v  New  York,  N.  T.  Mayor ,  ^£ 

employment ,  Committee)  o»  ^^p 


REPORT,   /?/& 

of  the 

MAYOR'S  COMMITTEE 
ON    UNEMPLOYMENT 


Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment 
NEW  YORK  CITY 

JANUARY,    1916 


REPORT 

of  the 

MAYOR'S   COMMITTEE 
ON      UNEMPLOYMENT 


PART  I 
WORK  ACCOMPLISHED 

PART  II 

A   PROGRAM    FOR   DEALING  WITH 
UNEMPLOYMENT    IN    NEW    YORK 

PART   III 

CONSTRUCTIVE    PROPOSALS    FOR 
AN      IMMEDIATE      PROGRAM 

PART   IV 
APPENDICES 


NEW  YORK  CITY 
JANUARY,  1916 


PRESS  OF 

CLARENCE  S.  NATHAN,  INC. 

NEW  YORK. 


16-1   0  (N) 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface 4 

PART    I— WORK    ACCOMPLISHED 

Introduction 7 

Securing  Facts  as  to  Unemployment 8 

Results  of  Various  Investigations 9 

Returns  from  Employers 9 

Survey  of  Unemployment  in  January  and  February,  1915 11 

Canvass  of  Industrial  Policy  Holders  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance 

Company 11 

Census  Under  Supervision  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 14 

Results  of  the  Investigation 14 

Duration  of  Unemployment lo 

Occupations  of  Unemployed 16 

Resurvey  of  Unemployment  in  August  and  September,  1915 20 

Canvass  of  Selected  Trade  Unions 23 

Inquiry  as  to  Credit  Accounts  in  Neighborhood  Stores 23 

Census  of  Homeless  Men 23 

Increased  Demands  Upon  Relief  Societies 24 

Bread  Lines 25 

Plan  for  Securing  Facts  as  to  Employment  Fluctuations 26 

Special  Investigations  Made  for  Committee 27 

Relief  Measures  Undertaken 27 

Emergency  Workrooms 27 

Organization 28 

General  Plan 28 

Occupations  Followed 28 

Disposition  of  the  Product 29 

Location  of  the  Shops 29 

Summary  of  Number  Employed  and  Number  of  Days'  Work  Given 30 

Co-operation 30 

Training  Classes  for  Unemployed  Girls 30 

Bundle  Day 32 

Distribution  of  Food  by  Hotels 33 

Care  of  Homeless  Men 34 

Increased  Facilities  at  the  Municipal  Lodging  House 34 

Placement  Work  at  the  Lodging  House 35 

Amendment  to  Law  Prohibiting  More  Than  Three  Days  Per  Month  in  Municipal 

Lodging  House 36 

"Hotel   de  Gink" 36 

Securing  Regular  Employment 37 

Public  Employment  Bureaus— City  and  State 37 

Appeals  to  Private  Employers 38 

Part  Time  Movement 38 

Neighborhood  Employment  Through  the  Police 39 

Federating  the  Non-Commercial  Employment  Bureaus  for  Better  Co-operation 40 


PAGE 

Business  Organizing  to  Study  Its  Employment  Problems 40 

Co-operation  of  Churches,  Civic  and  Philanthropic  Organizations 41 

Inter-Church  Unemployment  Committee 41 

General  Community  Co-operation 41 

Financial  Statement 42 


PART   II— PROGRAM   FOR  DEALING  WITH   UNEMPLOYMENT 
IN   NEW  YORK 

Section  I.    Prevention  of  Unemployment 

Classification  of  the  Unemployed 44 

Public  Employment  Exchanges 45 

Seasonal  Employment  and  the  Public  Employment  Bureau 45 

Casual  Labor  and  the  Public  Employment  Bureau 46 

Organizing  the  Employment  Market 46 

"Decasualizing"  Casual  Labor 48 

Manchester  Cloth  Porters 49 

Liverpool  Docks  Scheme 49 

Other  Dock  Schemes 50 

Organized  Schemes  Dealing  with  Seasonal  Workers  in  England 51 

Regularizing  the  Demand  for  Labor 51 

Planning  Public  Expenditures  to  Take  up  the  Slack 52 

Regularization  by  Private  Industry 54 

Labor  Shift  or  "Turn  Over" 54 

Fluctuations  in  Employment 57 

Irregularity  of  Employment  and  the  Worker 58 

Progress  Made  in  Regularizing  Industry 63 

Public  Responsibility  and  Public  Pressure 65 

Individual  Responsibility  a  Minor  Factor  in  Unemployment 65 

Public  Responsibility 67 

Public  Pressure 68 


Section  II.     Insurance  and  Relief  Measures  for  the  Unemployed 

Unemployment  Insurance 69 

Summary  of  European  Experiments 70 

Compulsory  Insurance 70 

Workings  of  the  British  National  Insurance  Act 71 

Voluntary  Insurance  with  Public  Subsidy 73 

State  Systems  of  Norway  and  Denmark 73 

The  Ghent  System 76 

Relief  Measures 77 

Summary  of  Typical  Relief  Measures 77 

Experiences  of  a  Few  Typical  Cities  in  Unemployed  Relief  Work 80 

Experience  of  Great  Britain 81 

British  Unemployed  Workmen  Act 81 

Relief  Works  Unfler  the  Unemployed  Workmen  Act 85 

Cen1  ral  I  Unemployed  Body  for  London 86 

Work  Provided 87 

Hollesley  Bay  Colony 87 

General  Observations  of  Distress  Committees  on  the  Unemployed  Workmen 

Act 88 

Experience  of  Continental  Europe 89 


PAGE 

PART    III— CONSTRUCTIVE    PROPOSALS    FOR    AN     IMMEDIATE    PRO- 
GRAM       91 


PART   IV— APPENDICES 

Appendix  I 

Recommendations  of  Conference    on    the    Development    of    Public    Employment 

Bureaus 96 

Appendix  II 

Recommendations  of  Conference  on  Methods  and  Means  of  Training  the  Unem- 
ployed       99 

Appendix  III 
Child  Labor  and  Unemployment 101 

Appendix  IV 
Unemployed  Working  Girls 104 


Reorganized  Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment 109 


PREFACE 

This  report  seeks  to  summarize  the  experience  of  the  Mayor's  Com- 
mittee on  Unemployment  in  dealing  with  unemployment  conditions  in 
New  York  City  during  the  winter  of  1914-1915.  It  also  presents  infor- 
mation regarding  similar  effort  elsewhere,  and  discusses  various  constructive 
measures  tried  in  Europe  and  America  to  reduce  the  evil  of  unemployment 
and  to  minimize  its  distressful  effect.  There  is  no  problem  of  greater 
moment  to  the  welfare  of  the  American  people.  There  is  no  question  pre- 
senting greater  difficulties  than  are  inherent  in  the  disorganization  of  life 
and  self  reliance  due  to  inability  of  workers  to  find  work.  Anything  that 
can  be  done  to  mitigate  this  evil  is  a  gain. 

There  is  a  considerable  amount  of  unemployment  which  is  recurrent 
and  still  seems  an  inevitable  part  of  industrial  organization.  This  may  be 
in  some  degree  at  least  prevented  by  better  organization.  At  all  events, 
effort  to  prevent  it  is  distinctly  desirable.  Unemployment  insurance  adopted 
in  various  forms  in  England  and  on  the  Continent  has  often  been  urged  as 
a  means  of  safeguarding  workers  against  recurring  unemployment.  Greater 
care  in  selecting  and  dismissing  employees,  better  training  for  prospective 
wage  earners,  are  all  measures  which  may  effect  an  improvement  in  the 
phases  of  the  unemployment  problem  that  are  not  directly  caused  by  a 
stoppage  of  industry  and  business  let  down. 

This  report  brings  together  numerous  interesting  suggestions  and 
formulates  a  program  of  constructive  effort  for  New  York.  Its  publication 
should  at  least  serve  the  purpose  of  putting  into  convenient  form  for  the 
use  of  those  who  seek  to  deal  with  unemployment  in  the  future  the  record 
of  New  York's  experience  in  the  distressful  winter  of  1914-1915,  and  a  sug- 
gestive summary  of  thought  and  effort  elsewhere  devoted  to  dealing  with  the 
evils  of  unemployment. 

E.  H.  Gary,  Chairman, 
Henry  Bruere,  Secretary, 

Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment. 


MAYOR'S   COMMITTEE   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT 

APPOINTED    DECEMBER   2,    1914 

Elbert  H.  Gary,  Chairman 

Henry  Bruere,  General  Secretary  Frederick  Strauss,  Treasurer 

John  R.  Shillady,  Director 

Executive  Committee 


Elbert  H.  Gary 
Otto  T.  Bannard 
Cornelius  N.  Bliss 
William  C.  Breed 
Henry  Bruere 
Robert  W.  de  Forest 
Samuel  B.  Donnelly 
Howard  Elliott 
Hugh  Frayne 
Walter  B.  Holt 
Louis  J.  Horowitz 
John  Mitchell 
Thomas  M.  Mulry 


Charles  P.  Neill 

E.  H.  Outerbridge 
George  W.  Perkins 
Leopold  Plaut 
Louis  B.  Schram 
Prof.  Henry  R.  Seager 
Frederick  Strauss 

J.  W.  Sullivan 
Wm.  H.  Truesdale 
Roswell  D.  Tompkins 
Frederick  D.  Underwood 

F.  A.  Vanderlip 
Lillian  D.  Wald 

Alfred  T.  White 


Ways  and  Means  Committee 

George  W.  Perkins,  Chairman 
Vincent  Astor  Elbert  H.  Gary 

Henry  Bruere  W.  Averill  Harriman 

"Wm.  Hamlin  Childs  Mortimer  L.  Schiff 


Charles  W.  Anderson 
John  B.  Andrews 
Frank  L.  Babbott 
Mrs.  Frances  McNeill  Bacon 
George  F.  Baker,  Jr. 
Charles  B.  Barnes 
George  H.  Bell 
Charles  L.  Bernheimer 
Samuel  J.  Bloomingdale 


E.  C.  Blum 

Rev.  Nehemiah  Boynton 
Howard  Bradstreet 
Peter  J.  Brady 
Irving  T.  Bush 
James  G.  Cannon 
Robert  E.  Chaddock 
George  B.  Cortelyou 
John  P.  Coughlan 


5 


Clarkson  Cowl 
John  D.  Crimmins 
Mrs.  James  S.  Cushman 
R.  Fulton  Cutting 
E.  T.  Devine 
John  A.  Dyche 
Haley  Fiske 
Homer  Folks 
P.  A.  S.  Franklin 
J.  B.  Greenhut 
Herbert  F.  Gunnison 

GUSTAVE   HARTMAN 

Miss  Anna  C.  Hedges 

Timothy  Healy 

Frank  V.  Hedley 

Frank  P.  Hill 

Percival  S.  Hill 

James  P.  Holland 

Mrs.  Florence  Kelley 

Miss  Frances  A.  Kellor 

Paul  Kennaday 

John  A.  Kingsbury 

Darwin  P.  Kingsley 

Mrs.  Alexander  Kohut 

Julius  Kruttschnitt 

Rev.  Walter  Laidlaw 

B.  A.  Larger 

William  Loeb,  Jr. 

Mrs.  V.  Everit  Macy 

Rt.  Rev.  Denis  J.  McMahon 

Miss  Anne  Morgan 

Charles  D.  Norton 

Rev.  Francis  J.  O'Hara 


Wesley  M.  Oler 

Mrs.  Henry  Ollesheimer 

Col.  John  P.  O'Rourke 

Ira  A.  Place 

Walter  W.  Price 

Rev.  Karl  Reiland 

Leon  Schinasi 

Miss  Rose  Schneiderman 

Miss  Melinda  Scott 

Bernard  Semel 

William  Sloane 

R.  A.  C.  Smith 

Miss  Mary  S.  Snow 

Mrs.  James  Speyer 

Charles  Steckler 

Charles  Stelzle 

Ernest  M.  Stires 

Oscar  S.  Straus 

Percy  S.  Straus 

Cyrus  L.  Sulzberger 

Harry  B.  Thayer 

F.  S.  Tomlin 

Frank  Trumbull 

H.  K.  Twitchell 

Cornelius  Vanderbilt 

Jacob  Wertheim 

Mrs.  Bertha  Poole  Weyl 

Albert  H.  Wiggin 

Arthur  Williams 

Timothy  S.  Williams 

Rev.  Stephen  S.  Wise 

Arthur  Woods 

Rev.  John  C.  York 


PART  I 

WORK  ACCOMPLISHED 

Introduction 

In  the  fall  of  1914,  the  City  of  New  York  found  itself  confronted  with 
an  acute  situation  with  regard  to  unemployment,  created  by  the  extraordinary 
disturbance  of  normal  conditions  of  trade  and  industry,  due  to  the  outbreak 
of  the  European  war.  As  a  result  of  this  condition,  and  in  conformance 
with  a  program  submitted  for  his  consideration,*  the  Mayor  appointed  on 
December  2d,  1914,  a  committee  on  unemployment  and  relief,  composed 
of  about  one  hundred  leading  men  and  women  of  the  city  in  the  field  of 
business,  labor,  philanthropy  and  civic  interest.  Ex- Judge  Elbert  H.  Gary, 
Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation, 
served  as  chairman  of  the  committee. 

In  appointing  the  committee  on  unemployment  and  relief,  the  Mayor 
said  in  part: 

"There  is  a  grave  question  before  the  City  in  dealing  with  the  problem  of 
unemployment.  It  cannot  be  met  by  public  or  private  charity.  It  is  a  matter 
of  business,  commerce  and  industry. 

"The  City  has  taken  an  important  step  in  the  right  direction  by  establishing 
a  Public  Employment  Bureau,  but  a  Public  Employment  Bureau  cannot  make 
work.  To  meet  the  unemployment  problem,  all  the  ability  and  resources  of  business 
must  be  called  on.  .  .  .  There  must  be  co-operation  between  the  city,  state 
and  federal  governments.  .  .  .  We  must  not  regard  this  condition  (unem- 
ployment) as  occasional  only.  It  is  persistent  and  we  must  deal  with  it  as  a  per- 
sistent evil  to  be  reduced  if  it  cannot  be  wholly  wiped  out." 

The  first  step  taken  by  the  Committee  was  to  organize  itself  into  the 
following  seven  sub-committees,  each  to  take  up  a  particular  phase  of  the 
problem : 

1  Committee  on  Facts  Regarding  Existing  Unemployment 

2  Committee  on  Immediate  Private  and  Public  Employment  Opportunities 

3  Committee  on  Relief  Needs  and  Measures 

4  Committee  on  Unemployment  Among  Women 

5  Committee  on  Co-operation  of  Business  and  Industry  to  Promote  Employment 

6  Committee  on  National,  State  and  Municipal  Policies 

7  Committee  on  Emergency  Work  Rooms  for  Men 

A  preliminary  report f  of  the  Committee,  issued  in  February,.  1915, 
contains  a  summary  of  its  work  to  that  date.  The  substance  of  that  report 
is  included  herein. 


*A  Proposal  with  reference  to  Unemployment  in  the  winter  of  1914-1915  for  consideration  by  Hia 
Honor,  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York,  prepared  by  Henry  Bru&re,  City  Chamberlain,  November,  1914. 
t  First  Formal  Report  of  the  work  of  the  Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment,  February  5,  1915. 


Securing  Facts  as  to  Unemployment 

When  the  Committee  began  its  work  no  statistics  were  available 
regarding  unemployment  in  New  York  City  except  from  representative  trade 
unions.  The  latest  report  issued  by  the  State  Department  of  Labor  regarding 
employment  conditions  in  the  trade  unions  of  the  City  showed  that  32,199 
or  28.2  per  cent,  of  the  114,345  members  of  94  unions  reporting,  were  idle 
in  June,  1914,  on  account  of  lack  of  work.*  This  percentage  was  the  highest 
for  June  since  1908,  and  was  higher  than  that  for  September,  1914,  which 
figures  were  published  after  the  Committee's  work  was  under  way.  No 
other  data  were  accessible,  except  the  figures  from  the  four  largest  relief 
societies  showing  an  increasing  number  of  applications  for  help  made  to 
these  societies. 

As  a  result  of  the  past  year's  work  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  more  progress 
has  been  made  in  securing  the  facts  regarding  the  amount  and  incidence  of 
unemployment  in  New  York  City  than  in  any  other  city  in  the  country. 
To  this  result  city  departments  and  employees,  immigration  officials  and 
inspectors,  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  the  Metropolitan 
Life  Insurance  Company ,and  the  Mayor's  Committee  have  jointly  contributed. 

As  a  first  step  in  gauging  the  actual  condition  of  employment,  the 
Committee  sent  a  questionnaire  to  representative  employers  of  the  City. 
Returns  were  secured  from  602  employers  of  over  250,000  employees  as  to 
the  relative  number  employed  in  a  given  week  in  December,  1914,  compared 
with  a  corresponding  week  in  December,  1913.  The  Metropolitan  Life 
Insurance  Company,  at  the  request  of  the  Committee,  canvassed  nearly 
156,000  families  of  its  industrial  policyholders  in  January,  1915,  and  tabulated 
the  amount  of  unemployment  among  the  wage  earners  of  these  families.! 
In  February,  1915,  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  supervised 
a  house  to  house  canvass  of  nearly  55,000  families  in  order  to  check  up  and 
test  the  accuracy  of  the  method  and  the  figures  secured  by  the  canvass  of 
employers  and  of  the  policyholders  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance 
Company.^  The  Mayor's  Committee  (through  city  departments)  and 
the  Bureau  of  Immigration,  furnished  the  field  force  for  the  federal  census. 

The  most  striking  confirmation  of  the  carefulness  and  substantial 
accuracy  of  the  work  done,  was  the  remarkable  agreement  of  the  figures 
obtained  by  the  two  independent  investigations  (the  Metropolitan  Life 
Insurance  Company's  canvass  and  that  under  the  supervision  of  the  Federal 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics).  The  returns  from  employers,  showing  a  com- 
parison between  corresponding  weeks  in  two  successive  years,  and  taking 
into  account  the  estimates  of  the  best  authorities  as  to  conditions  in  December, 
1913,  were  felt  to  be  in  accord  with  the  investigations  by  the  census  method. 
So  satisfactory  was  the  general  method  inaugurated  in  New  York  that  the 
federal  authorities  requested  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company 
to  take  an  employment  census  of  its  industrial  policyholders  in  twenty-seven 
cities  of  the  country,  which  has  since  been  done. 

*  Bulletin  No.  61,  New  York  State  Department  of  Labor,  October,  1914,  p.  8. 
tSee  p.   11, 
JSee  p.  14. 

8 


The  Committee  felt  that  it  would  be  an  index  of  conditions  to  be 
anticipated  during  the  winter  of  1915-1916,  and  a  valuable  contribution  to  the 
study  of  the  amount  of  unemployment  in  the  City  under  varying  conditions, 
if  a  comparison  could  be  made  with  the  results  of  the  census  of  the  previous 
winter,  by  repeating  the  canvass  during  the  late  summer.  The  Secretary 
of  Labor  and  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  acquiesced  most 
cordially  in  the  Committee's  suggestion  that  a  second  inquiry  covering  the 
same  ground  be  made.  The  last  week  of  August  and  the  first  three  weeks 
of  September,  1915,  were  agreed  upon  as  the  census  period.  City  employees 
and  immigration  inspectors  were  again  assigned,  under  the  supervision  of  a 
special  agent  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  to  take  a 
census  of  the  104  city  blocks  and  3,703  individual  tenement  houses  previously 
canvassed.*  The  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  undertook  once 
more  the  task  of  securing  data  as  to  unemployment  among  wage  earners  in 
the  families  of  its  industrial  policy-holders,  a  splendid  example  of  public 
service  by  an  insurance  company,  f  The  Committee  also  made  a  canvass 
of  selected  trade  unions  in  January. 

The  Committee  further  kept  in  touch  with  employment  conditions 
through  daily  reports  from  the  Municipal  Lodging  House,  showing  the 
number,  sex  and  nationality  of  lodgers,  and  the  percentage  of  lodgers  in 
the  City  less  than  ten  days  and  less  than  sixty  days.  During  the  winter 
it  received  daily  reports  from  the  police  as  to  the  number  of  men  and  women 
appearing  on  the  bread  lines,  monthly  reports  from  the  principal  relief  agen- 
cies and  periodic  reports  from  other  sources  of  information.  Through  the 
co-operation  of  the  social  settlements  of  the  City  an  inquiry  was  made  as  to 
the  credit  accounts  of  neighborhood  retail  stores. 

Results  of  Various  Investigations 
Returns  from  Employers 

The  Committee  on  Facts  Regarding  Existing  Unemployment  decided  that  the 
first  question  before  it  was  to  get  a  measure  of  unemployment  existing  in  1914-1915 
as  compared  with  the  preceding  year,  in  order  that  the  various  sub-committees  of 
the  Mayor's  Committee,  but  more  particularly  the  committee  having  to  do  with 
relief  needs  and  measures,  might  have  some  adequate  basis  for  determining  approxi- 
mately what  their  problem  was  to  be. 

A  questionnaire  was  sent  out  by  this  committee  to  ascertain  from  repre- 
sentative employers  in  all  branches  of  industry,  the  number  of  persons  employed 
on  full  time  and  on  part  time  during  the  week  ending  December  19,  1914,  as  compared 
with  the  corresponding  week  of  December,  1913.  Replies  to  the  committee's  ques- 
tionnaire were  received  from  602  employers,  employing  at  that  time  (December,  1914) 
250,723  persons.  -  The  figures  submitted  covered  the  differences  in  employment 
for  the  week  ending  December  19,  1914,  as  compared  with  the  corresponding  week  of 
December,  1913.  The  committee  did  not  estimate  the  total  number  of  persons 
unemployed  for  the  week  ending  December  19,  1914,  but  the  increased  number  over 
the  same  time  in  the  preceding  year.  The  figures  show  for  all  industries  and  lines 
of  trade  combined  that  there  was  an  increase  in  unemployment  for  the  week  ending 


•See  p.  20. 
tSee  p.  20. 


December  19,  1914  equal  to  about  8  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  workers  in 
December,  1913.  With  this  as  a  basis  the  committee  estimated  that  approximately 
200,000  more  persons  were  unemployed  in  New  York  City  in  December,  1914,  than 
in  December,  1913. 

Replies  from  404  factories  employing  a  total  of  77,270  persons  showed  that  for 
the  given  week  the  increased  unemployment  among  factory  workers  only,  in  1914 
over  1913,  was  equal  to  13.5  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  employed  in  December, 
1913.  In  the  building  and  hand  trades,  figures  covering  80,042  employees  (one-third 
of  the  estimated  total  number  employed  in  the  industry),  showed  that  there  was 
an  increase  in  unemployment  amounting  to  20  per  cent,  of  those  employed  in  the 
preceding  year. 

Replies  from  156  employers  engaged  in  general  trade,  i.  e.,  banking,  brokerage, 
insurance,  real  estate,  wholesale  and  retail  business,  grain  elevators,  warehouses,  etc., 
employing  35,058  persons,  showed  an  increase  of  nearly  4  per  cent,  in  the  number  of 
persons  employed  for  the  week  ending  December  19,  1914,  as  compared  with  the 
corresponding  week  in  1913. 

Replies  from  31  large  transportation  and  public  utility  companies  covering 
a  total  of  57,000  persons  showed  about  1  per  cent,  increase  in  the  number  of  persons 
employed  over  1913. 

Among  factory  employees  the  increased  unemployment  among  wage  earners 
only  in  the  given  week  of  December,  1914,  as  compared  with  the  given  week  in  Decem- 
ber, 1913,  was  12  per  cent,  in  the  case  of  men,  and  17  per  cent,  in  the  case  of  women 
workers.     The  total  percentages  in  factory  workers  were  as  follows: 


Factories 

No.  Replies 
Received 

No.  Employees 
Represented 
by  Replies 

Per  Cent,  of 

Decrease  in  No. 

of  Employees 

Represented  by 

Replies, 

Dec,  1914,  over 

Dec,  1913 

Stone,  clay  and  glass 

9 
74 
44 
25 
18 

2 

35 

19 

132 

23 

23 

1,007 

16,668 

6,993 

3,892 

4,445 

345 

9,039 

3,356 

17,005 

7,371 

7,149 

13.2 

Metals,  machinery  and  vehicles. . .  . 
Wood  manufactures 

14.0 
15  0 

Furs,  leather  and  rubber 

8.9 

Chemicals,  oils  and  paints 

Paper 

*0.5 
1.7 

Printing  and  paper  goods 

Textiles 

4.9 

15.8 

Clothing,  millinery,  etc 

Foods,  liquors  and  tobacco 

Late    replies    not    distributed    by 
groups 

18.5 
10.6 

11.0 

Grand  total,  factories 

404 

77,270 

13. 5f 

*  Increase. 


t  Corrected  "weighted"  average. 


Among  persons  employed  in  general  trade,  i.  e.,  banking,  brokerage,  insurance, 
real  estate,  wholesale  and  retail  business,  grain  elevators,  warehouses,  etc.,  the  figures 
were  as  follows: 


Trade 

No.  Replies 
Received 

No. 
Employees 

Per  Cent,  of 

Increase  in  No. 

of  Employees 

Represented  by 

Replies, 

Dec,  1914,  over 

Dec,  1913 

Banking,  brokerage,  insurance,  real 

estate 

16 

129 

11 

5,686 

26,956 
2,416 

7.8  + 

2.8  + 

3.9  + 

Wholesale  and  retail 

Grain  elevators,  warehouses,  etc... 

156 

35,058 

3.7  + 

10 


The  figures  for  transportation  and  other  public  utilities  (exclusive  of  subway 
tractors),  were  as  follows: 


Transportation  and  Other 
Public  Utilities 


No.  Replies 
Received 


No.  Employees 
Represented 
by  Replies 


Per  Cent,  of 

Decrease  in  No. 

of  Employees 

Represented  by 

Replies, 

Dec,  1914,  over 

Dec,  1913 


Steam  R.  R 

Electric  and  street  railways 

Transfer  and  drayage 

Water  transportation 

Electric  light  and  power  plants . 

Gas  plants 

Telephone  and  telegraph 

Total,  transportation,  etc 


7,807 

15,555 

102 

3,756 
11,231 

5,533 
13,018 


3.2 

*12.2 

27.1 

11.1 

4.3 
*1.9 
*0.7 


31 


57,002 


1.1 


*  Increase. 

It  must  be  understood  that  these  figures  were  based  upon  replies  representing  a  trifle 
less  than  123^  per  cent.,  or  about  one-eighth  of  the  total  estimated  number  of  persons 
gainfully  employed  in  trade  and  industry  in  New  York  City,  t  These  replies  were,  however, 
received  from  establishments  carefully  selected  by  the  committee  and  considered  to  be 
fully  representative  of  their  various  lines. 

The  analysis  of  the  figures  shows  that  while  in  404  factories  there  was  a  decrease  of 
13.5  per  cent,  in  the  total  number  of  employees  in  December,  1914,  over  that  for  December, 
1913,  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  employees  on  full  time  was  22.8  per  cent.,  while  the 
number  of  employees  on  part  time  was  nearly  trebled. 

Survey  of  Unemployment  in  January  and  February,  1915 

Canvass  of  Industrial  Policy  holders  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance 

Company 

At  the  request  of  the  Committee,  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance 
Company,  began,  in  January,  1915,  a  canvass  of  its  industrial  policy  holders, 
and  submitted  the  following  report  on  March  1,  1915: 

"This  census  was  begun  January  18,  1915,  and  continued  several  weeks.     It 

was  conducted  through  our  agents  who  were  supplied  with  inquiry  blanks      .      .      . 

and  were  instructed  to  secure  the  facts  of  unemployment  among  the  families  of  policy 

holders  whom  they  visited.     The  result  of  our  canvass  is  as  follows: 

Total  number  of  families  investigated 155,960$ 

Number  of  families  with  unemployment 37,064 — 23. 7% 

Number  of  wage  earners 252,912 

Number  of  unemployed  wage  earners 45,421 — 18. 0% 


tThe  committee  estimated  that  on  January  1,  1915,  2,017,000  persons  were  employed  in  the  trades 
and  industries  covered  by  the  inquiry .  This  number  was  80 . 7  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  gainfully  employed . 
The  remaining  19.3  per  cent,  were  public  employees,  professional  workers,  workers  in  personal  service,  etc., 
who,  for  the  purposes  of  the  committee's  study  were  disregarded.  The  census  method  of  computing  the 
estimated  normal  increase  of  population  was  used  in  arriving  at  this  estimate. 

X  Using  the  figure  4 . 1  (found  to  be  average  number  of  persons  per  family  in  subsequent  investigations) 
as  the  average  number  of  persons  per  family  it  is  estimated  that  there  were  about  639,436  persons  in  these 
families. 


11 


"On  the  basis  of  these  figures,  we  venture  the  following  estimate  of  the  total 
amount  of  unemployment  in  the  Greater  City.  According  to  the  1910  Census, 
the  number  of  persons,  age  10  and  over,  engaged  in  gainful  occupations  was  2,152,433. 
This  was  45.2  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  at  that  time.  Assuming  that  this 
proportion  of  occupied  persons  has  continued,  the  number  of  wage  earners  is  now 
about  2,410,760.*  We  may  use  this  figure  as  the  basis  of  our  estimate.  As  our 
analysis  shows  an  unemployment  rate  of  18  per  cent.,  the  total  number  of  unemployed 
would  be  about  434,000. 

"This  figure  is  likely  to  be  an  over,  rather  than  an  under,  estimate,  because 
the  rate  of  18  per  cent,  which  we  found,  is  not  likely  to  hold  throughout  the  entire 
working  population  of  the  City.  We  should  not  be  inclined,  however,  to  discount 
it  too  much,  because  our  population  is  now  larger  than  the  1914  figure  of  the  Census 
Bureau,  and  because  an  unusually  high  rate  of  unemployment  in  the  clerical  and 
professional  pursuits  is  evident.  Perhaps  400,000  persons  unemployed  in  New  York 
City  is  a  fair  estimate  at  the  present  time."t 

"It  would  appear  that  the  industries  which  are  most  seriously  affected  by 
unemployment  are  as  follows: 


Males 


Number 


Per  Cent, 
of  Total 


Females 


Number 


Per  Cent, 
of  Total 


Building  trades 

Clothing  manufactures 

Workers  in  iron  and  steel  products. 

Printing  and  bookbinding 

Miscellaneous  manufacturing  indus- 
tries  

Employees  in  wholesale  and  retail 
trade 

Domestic  and  hotel  servants 

Workers  in  unspecified  pursuits.  .  .  . 


6,510 

2.255 

1,517 

714 

1,048 

4,632 

584 

4,736 


20.4 
7.1 

4.8 

2.2 

3.3 

14.5 

1.8 

14.8 


646 
239 
118 

1,558 

2,554 

1,280 

562 


7.8 
2.9 
1.4 

18.9 

30.9 

15.6 

6.8 


Data  as  to  sex  and  occupation  of  40,143  of  the  45,421  unemployed 
persons  scheduled  have  been  tabulated.  J 


*  Federal  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  by  the  same  method,  secures  the  figure  2,455,000  which  it  used 
as  the  basis  for  computing  the  number  of  unemployed.     See  p.  14. 

t  The  compilers  of  this  report  did  not  deduct  from  the  occupation  statistics  of  the  census  the  total 
number  of  persons  employed  as  officials,  managers,  overseers,  proprietors,  bankers,  brokers  and  retail  dealers 
who  are  not  likely  to  be  unemployed  although  their  incomes  might  be  impaired  by  unemployment.  All  of 
these  classes  together,  including  the  classification  milliners  and  millinery  dealers,  which  includes  both  em- 
ployers and  employees,  total  less  than  250,000  persons.  If  it  were  assumed  that  all  of  these  classes  should 
be  deducted,  it  would  reduce  the  estimate  of  the  total  number  of  unemployed  by  a  number  not  exceeding 
10,000.     The  same  thing  holds  as  to  the  Federal  Bureau  census.     See  p.  14. 

t  The  arrangement  followed  is  condensed  from  that  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  (Bulletin 
172),  differing  in  no  essential  particular  from  the  original  report  made  to  the  Mayor's  Committee. 


12 


Number  of  Persons  Out  of  Employment  in  January,  1915,  in  Greater  New  York, 

Classified  by  Sex  and  Industry,  as  Shown  by  Inquiry  of 

Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Co. 


Industry  and  Occupation 

Males 

Females 

Total 

Agriculture,  forestry  and  animal  husbandry 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries: 

Building  trades 

Chemicals  and  allied  products 

168 

6,510 

90 

379 

2,255 
374 

1,517 
387 
46 
455 
300 
714 
176 

1,048 

646 
239 

118 

276 

1,558 

168 

6,510 
90 

Clay,  glass,  and  stone  products 

Clothing  manufacture 

379 
2  901 

Food  and  kindred  products 

Iron  and  steel  products 

Leather  and  its  finished  products 

374 
1,756 

387 

Liquors  and  beverage  workers 

46 

Lumber  and  its  remanufacture 

Metal  products  (except  iron  and  steel) 

455 
300 

Printing  and  bookbinding 

832 

Textile  manufacturers 

452 

Miscellaneous  industries.  .  .    

2,606 

Transportation: 

Telegraph  and  telephone 

14,251 

43 
927 
141 
106 

86 
306 

41 

186 

3,309 

2,837 
143 

17,088 
186 

Water  transportation 

Roads,  streets,  and  bridge  transportation 

Livery  stablemen 

927 
141 
106 

Garage  workers 

86 

Street  railwav  employees 

306 

Subway  and  elevated  railway  employees 

Railroad  employees 

41 

186 

Chauffeurs  and  drivers 

3,309 

Trade: 

Real  estate  and  insurance 

Wholesale    and    retail    trade — merchants    and 
dealers 

5,145 

44 

286 
4,632 

143 

2,544 

5,288 

44 

286 

Employees  in  wholesale  and  retail  trade 

7,176 

Public  defense  and  maintenance  of  law  and  order .  . 

Professional  service: 

Public  entertainment 

4,962 
479 

349 

204 

2,544 

45 
191 

7,506 
479 

394 

Other  professional  service 

395 

Domestic  and  personal  service: 

Maintenance  of  buildings 

Domestic  servants 

553 

412 

61 

523 

611 

4,736 

236 

93 

1,200 

80 

547 

562 

789 

505 
1,261 

Hotel  servants 

603 

Personal  services 

1,158 

Workers    in    unspecified    manufacturing    and 
mechanical  industries 

5,298 

6,343 

2,482 

8,825 

Grand  total 

31,901 

8,242 

40,143 

13 


Census  Under  Supervision  of  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics: 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  made  an  investigation  to 
ascertain  as  nearly  as  possible  the  extent  of  unemployment  in  the  City,  in 
which  the  Mayor's  Committee  co-operated  by  securing  for  the  bureau  the 
assignment  of  about  one  hundred  Tenement  House  Inspectors.  The  follow- 
ing statement  of  that  investigation  is  taken  from  the  official  report  of  the 
Uuited  States  Bureau.* 

The  investigation  included  a  complete  census  of  104  representative 
city  blocks  located  in  various  sections  of  the  City,  the  less  populated  as 
well  as  the  more  congested  sections.  The  blocks  were  carefully  selected 
with  the  purpose  of  including  a  representative  number  of  families  of  the 
various  nationalities  and  all  classes  of  workers. 

This  study  was  supplemented  by  a  further  census  of  the  families  living 
in  3,703  individual  tenement  houses  and  residences  covering  a  still  wider 
range  of  distribution. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  study  all  persons  who  had  any  employment 
whatever,  regular  or  irregular,  full  time  or  part  time,  at  the  time  of  the 
agent's  visit,  were  recorded  as  employed. 

This  enumeration  was  begun  January  30,  1915,  and  was  finished  Feb- 
ruary 17,  1915,  a  schedule  being  secured  for  each  family  visited. 

Results  of  the  Investigation 

The  results  of  the  investigation  were  as  follows: 

Number  of  families  scheduled 54,849 

Number  of  families  having  unemployed  wage  earners 11,723 

Per  cent,  of  families  having  unemployed  wage  earners.  ...  21 .4 

Number  of  persons  in  families 229,428 

Number  of  wage  earners  in  families 95,443 

Number  of  unemployed  wage  earners 15,417 

Per  cent,  of  unemployed  wage  earners 16. 2t 

Assuming  that  the  number  of  wage  earners  is  now  2,455,000|  as  before 
stated,  and  using  this  figure  as  the  basis  of  our  estimate  and  applying  to  it 
the  rate  of  unemployment  derived  from  the  study,  as  shown  above,  the  total 
number  unemployed  would  be  about  398,000.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
general  results  of  this  study  approximate  the  results  of  the  investigation 
made  by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company.  The  difference  between 
the  two  may  to  some  extent  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  investigation 
conducted  by  the  Bureau  was  made  later  in  the  season  than  that  made-  by 
the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  the  conditions  of  unem- 
ployment may  have  changed  to  some  extent. § 


♦Bulletin  172,  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics. 

t  In  some  of  the  crowded  downtown  blocks  in  Manhattan  as  high  as  40  per  cent,  of  the  wage  earners 
were  totally  unemployed.  (Royal  Meeker  in  an  address  before  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social 
Science.) 

t  The  estimate  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  was  2,410,760,  using  the  same  method. 
Sec  page  12. 

§  See  page  1 1 , 

14 


Duration  of  Unemployment 

In  making  the  canvass  of  the  unemployed  an  attempt  was  made  to 
ascertain  the  exact  occupation  at  which  each  unemployed  wage  earner  last 
worked  and  the  length  of  time  that  each  had  been  out  of  work.  Out  of  a 
total  of  15,417  wage  earners  scheduled,  this  information  was  secured  for 
14,916.  The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  those  found  out  of  work 
on  the  day  the  investigation  was  made,  classified  by  sex  and  periods  of 
unemployment : 


Number  and  Per  Cent,  of  Unemployed,  by  Sex,  and  Periods  of 

Unemployment 


Duration  of  Un- 

Males 

Females 

Total 

employment 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

1  to  7  days 

8  to  13  days 

766 
530 
1,469 
2,570 
2,126 
1,686 
1,968 
1,440 
46 

6.1 
4.2 
11.7 
20.4 
16.9 
13.4 
15.6 

221 
130 
324 
504 
339 
244 
321 
215 
17 

9.5 

5.6 
14.0 
21.8 
14.6 
10.5 
13.9 

9.3 
.7 

987 
660 
1,793 
3,074 
2,465 
1.930 
2,289 
1,655 
63 

6.6 
4.4 

14  to  30  days 

31  to  60  days 

61  to  90  days 

91  to  120  days 

121  to  180  days 

181  days  and  over. . .  . 
Unknown 

12.0 
20.6 
16.5 
12.9 
15.3 
11.1 
.4 

Total 

12,601 

100.0 

2,315 

100.0 

14,916 

100.0 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  largest  number  and  percentage  of  persons 
out  of  work,  both  male  and  female,  had  been  out  of  work  from  31  to  60  days — 
20.4  per  cent,  of  all  the  males  and  21.8  per  cent,  of  all  the  females — and  the 
next  largest  number  had  been  out  of  work  from  61  to  90  days — 16.9  per  cent, 
of  the  males  and  14.6  per  cent,  of  the  females.  The  unemployment,  therefore, 
began  to  be  most  acute  in  the  late  fall  or  early  winter,  a  period  when  work 
in  many  outside  industries  under  normal  conditions  is  falling  off,  and  this 
unemployment  was  undoubtedly  due  to  a  considerable  extent  to  the  usual 
slack  season.  It  will  be  further  noted  that  15.6  per  cent,  of  the  males  and 
13.9  per  cent,  of  the  females  had  been  out  of  work  from  120  to  180  days, 
and  that  11.4  per  cent,  of  the  males  and  9.3  per  cent,  of  the  females  had  been 
out  of  work  more  than  six  months. 

The  figures  of  the  above  table  presented  in  another  form  show  the 
aggregate  number  and  percentage  of  wageworkers  out  of  employment  each 
specified  number  of-  days. 

The  following  table  shows  that  of  all  male  and  female  workers  combined 
11.1  per  cent,  were  out  of  work  for  a  period  of  over  180  days,  26.4  per  cent, 
over  120  days,  39.3  per  cent,  over  90  days,  55.8  per  cent,  over  60  days,  76.4 
per  cent,  over  30  days,  88.4  per  cent,  over  13  days,  and  92.8  per  cent,  were 
out  of  work  at  least  one  week: 


15 


Cumulative  Number  and  Per  Cent  of  Wage  Earners  Out  of  Work  Each 
Specified  Number  of  Days 


Duration  of  Un- 

Males 

Females 

Total 

employment 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

( >ver  180  days 

Over  120  days 

Over  90  days 

Over  60  days 

Over  30  days 

Over  13  days 

Over  7  days 

1  day  or  more 

1,440 

3,408 

5,094 

7,220 

9,790 

11,259 

11,789 

12,601 

11.4 
27.0 
40.4 
57.3 

77.7 

89.4 

93.6 

100.0 

215 
536 
780 
1,119 
1,623 
1,947 
2,077 
2,315 

9.3 
23.2 
33.7 
48.3 
70.1 
84.1 
89.7 
100.0 

1,655 
3,944 

5,874 
8,339 
11,413 
13,203 
13,866 
14,916 

11.1 

26.4 
39.3 
55.8 
76.4 
88. 4 
92.8 
100.0 

Occupations  of  Unemployed 

The  next  table  presents  the  number  unemployed,  classified  by  sex, 
occupation,  and  by  periods  of  unemployment. 


Number  of  Persons  Out  of  Employment  in  February,  1915,  Classified  by  Occu- 
pation, Sex,  and  Periods  of  Unemployment,  as  Shown  by  Census 
of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics 


Sex 

Num- 
ber 
unem- 
ployed 

N 

UMBER   OF 

Peri 

Per: 

OD   Ol 

SONS 

■  Un 

at  Each  Speci 

employment 

FIED 

Occupation 

1 

to 

7 
days 

8 
to 
13 

days 

14 

to 
30 

lays 

31 

to 
60 

days 

61 

to 
90 

days 

91 

to 
120 

days 

121 

to 
180 

days 

181 

days 
and 
over 

Un- 
known 

Manufacturing  and  Me- 
chanical Industries 
Building  trades 

M. 

M. 

M. 
F. 

2,043 

112 

107 

257 

486 

391 

269 

270 

144 

7 

Marble  and  stonecutters.  .  .  . 
Operators  on  clothing 

86 

1.565 
216 

2 

74 
21 

4 

38 
5 

8 

145 
16 

13 

292 

48 

19 

296 
42 

19 

258 
25 

10 

280 

38 

10 

179 

18 

1 

3 
3 

Total 

1,781 

95 

43 

161 

340 

338 

2S3 

318 

197 

6 

M. 
F. 

Hat  makers 

34 
11 

2 
1 

2 

1 

2 
2 

6 

1 

4 
3 

6 

2 

7 

5 
1 

Total 

45 

3 

3 

4 

7 

7 

8 

7 

6 

Bakers 

M. 

M. 
M. 

M. 

M. 

M. 
F. 

108 

159 

224 

100 
62 

298 

8 

15 

4 
18 

5 

4 
19 

5 

7 
18 

2 

2 

12 

18 

20 
33 

11 

7 

24 
1 

21 

31 
50 

20 

9 

38 
2 

10 

25 
37 

15 

10 

61 

1 

13 

17 
24 

5 

10 

47 
3 

15 

23 
23 

20 

8 

49 
1 

11 

32 
20 

16 

12 

47 

Iron  and  steel  workers: 
Machinists 

Other 

1 

Leather  and  leather  goods: 
Shoemakers 

Other  workers  in  leather. 
Piano  makers 

1 

Total 

308 

19 

12 

25 

40 

62 

50 

50 

47 

1 

.. 

16 


Number  of  Persons  Out  of  Employment  in  February,  1915,  Classified  by  Occu- 
pation, Sex,  and  Periods  of  Unemployment,  as  Shown  by  Census 
of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics — Continued 


Sex 

Num- 
ber 
unem- 
ployed 

Number  of  persons  at  each  specified  period  of 
unemployment 

Occupation 

1 

to 

7 

days 

8 
to 
13 

days 

14 

to 
30 

days 

31 

to 
60 

days 

61 

to 
90 

days 

91 

to 
120 

days 

121 

to 
180 
days 

181 

days 
and 
over 

Un- 
known 

M. 

M. 
F. 

116 

88 
55 

11 

11 

8 

8 

4 

1 

21 

15 
16 

15 

26 
13 

9 

15 
8 

12 

6 

2 

22 

5 

4 

18 

6 
3 

Cigar  makers  and  tobacco 

Total . .            

143 

19 

5 

31 

39 

23 

8 

9 

9 

M. 
F. 

Dressmakers,  seamstresses .  . 

26 
362 

36 

2 
25 

1 
38 

4 
70 

5 

62 

8 

44 

4 
57 

2 
29 

1 

Total.. .           

388 

36 

27 

39 

74 

67 

52 

61 

31 

1 

M. 

F. 

Furriers. .                 

172 

29 

7 
2 

24 
8 

65 
8 

28 
4 

12 

2 

14 
3 

21 
1 

1 

1 

Total. .             

201 

9 

32 

73 

32 

14 

17 

22 

2 

M. 
F. 

M. 
M. 

M. 

M. 
F. 

Other  workers,  not  specified. 

466 
332 

40 

27 

19 
23 

47 
43 

83 
70 

85 
48 

53 

48 

87 
42 

49 

28 

3 
3 

Total 

798 

67 

42 

90 

153 

133 

101 

129 

77 

6 

Transportation 
Longshoremen,  stevedores. . . 
Chauffeurs 

134 
125 
507 

100 

7 

25 
10 

40 

8 

16 
3 

24 

6 
1 

19 
14 
60 

14 
1 

16 

19 

115 

19 
3 

14 

22 
68 

15 

1 

11 
11 
60 

9 

16 
25 
71 

15 

13 
21 
69 

14 

1 

4 

Drivers,  teamsters 

Other.                          

Total 

107 

8 

7 

15 

22 

16 

9 

15 

15 

M. 

F. 

Trade 
Bookkeepers  and  clerks 

543 
202 

20 
19 

20 
14 

54 
32 

123 
34 

79 

28 

56 
18 

87 
34 

99 
22 

5 

1 

Total 

745 

39 

34 

86 

157 

107 

74 

121 

121 

6 

M. 

F. 

Stenographers,  typewriters.  . 

16 
119 

2 

7 

1 

7 

1 
11 

2 
23 

3 
13 

1 
18 

1 
23 

5 
15 

2 

Total 

135 

9 

8 

12 

25 

16 

19 

24 

20 

2 

M. 
F. 

Collectors,  agents,  peddlers. . 

143 

8 

14 
1 

7 
1 

26 
1 

27 
1 

21 
1 

20 

18 
1 

9 

2 

1 

Total 

151 

15 

8 

27 

9,8 

22 

20 

19 

11 

1 

M. 
F. 

I 

Messengers,  errand  boys.  .  .  . 

106 

7 

2 

6 
1 

21 

18 
3 

15 

1 

17 

15 

12 

2 

Total 

113 

2 

7 

21 

21 

16 

17 

15 

14 

M. 
F. 

Store  clerks  and  salesmen .  .  . 

320 
145 

15 

8 

11 

5 

28 
20 

77 
51 

40 
21 

30 
8 

55 
15 

63 
17 

1 

Total 

465 

23 

16 

48 

128 

61 

38 

70 

80 

1 

• 

17 


Number  of  Persons  Out  of  Employment  in  February,  1915,  Classified  by  Occu- 
pation, Sex,  and  Periods  of  Unemployment  as  Shown  by  Census 
of  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics — Concluded 


Sex 

Num- 
ber 
unem- 
ployed 

Number  of  persons  at  each  specified  period  of 
unemployment 

Occupation 

1 
to 

7 
days 

8 
to 
13 

days 

14 

to 
30 

'lays 

31 

to 
60 

days 

61 

to 

90 

days 

91 

to 
120 

davs 

121 

to 
180 

days 

181 

days 
and 
over 

Un- 
known 

Other 

Public  Defensi 

Policemen,  watchmen 

Professional  Seryk  k 

Actors    and    public    enter- 
tainers  

M. 
M. 

M. 
F. 

136 

100 

97 
21 

13 

4 

15 

4 

4 
4 

8 
4 

14 
11 

15 
4 

27 
17 

19 

7 

20 

S 

8 
1 

13 
16 

9 

16 

18 

12 
1 

29 
22 

11 

Total 

118 

19 

12 

19 

26 

9 

9 

13 

11 

M. 
F. 

Other 

32 
42 

2 
5 

1 

1 
4 

3 

7 

s 
4 

4 

7 

6 

5 

7 
8 

1 
1 

Total 

74 

7 

1 

5 

10 

12 

11 

11 

15 

2 

M. 

M. 

F. 

Domestic  and  Personal 

Service 

Bartenders 

Cooks 

84 

160 
65 

8 

9 
6 

2 

4 
5 

15 

24 
10 

13 

40 
8 

8 

21 
10 

17 

18 
10 

15 

20 
12 

6 

24 
4 

Total 

225 

15 

9 

34 

48 

31 

28 

32 

28 

M. 
F. 

Domestic  servants 

192 
230 

18 
30 

5 
14 

36 
44 

46 
50 

26 
29 

24 
19 

27 
21 

10 
20 

3 

Total 

422 

48 

19 

80 

96 

55 

43 

48 

30 

3 

M. 

M. 
F. 

Elevator  tenders 

77 

32 
74 

5 
12 

2 

:•» 
5 

22 

5 
11 

12 

9 
18 

7 

■A 

7 

12 

3 
3 

9 

7 
8 

8 

2 
10 

Laundry  workers 

Total 

106 

12 

8 

16 

27 

10 

6 

15 

12 

M. 

F. 

Waiters  and  waitresses 

189 
51 

11 

7 

6 

1 

31 
9 

38 
15 

28 
9 

20 
4 

36 
3 

18 
3 

1 

Total 

240 

18 

7 

40 

53 

37 

24 

39 

21 

1 

M. 

M. 

M. 

M. 
F. 

Others 

97 

17! 
2, 1  K) 

1,250 
331 

8 

12 

123 

85 
29 

1 

11 
89 

60 
14 

6 

25 

253 

141 
53 

21 

43 

468 

239 
72 

21 

23 
169 

lS'.l 

46 

23 

17 
398 

138 
31 

9 

29 

122 

196 
53 

8 

14 
211 

193 
31 

Miscellaneous 
rs 

irers 

7 

Others 

9 
2 

Total 

1,581 

114 

74 

194 

311 

235 

169 

249 

224 

11 

18 


This  tabulation  shows  that  the  largest  number  of  persons  out  of  work 
were  common  laborers,  workers  in  the  building  trades,  and  in  the  clothing 
trades.  The  number  of  common  laborers  unemployed  in  all  industries  is 
shown  to  be  2,440;  the  number  of  workers  in  the  building  trades,  2,043; 
and  in  the  clothing  trades,  not  including  dressmakers  and  seamstresses, 
1,781.  In  this  connection  it  should  be  repeated  that  this  information  was 
collected  at  a  season  of  the  year  when  operations  in  the  building  trades  and 
clothing  trades  are  normally  slack,  and  that  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  unemployment  in  these  trades  is  undoubtedly  due  to  the  slack  season. 

The  following  table  is  drawn  to  show  approximately  the  total  number 
of  unemployed  persons  in  each  of  certain  specified  occupations  in  Greater 
New  York  and  the  per  cent,  that  such  number  is  of  the  total  number  of  wage 
earners  in  that  occupation.  The  figures  are  based  on  the  assumption  that 
the  conditions  of  unemployment  throughout  the  entire  City  are  approximately 
the  same  as  in  the  sections  of  the  City  canvassed  in  this  study. 


Estimated  Total  Number 
and  Per  Cent.of  Wage 

of  Unemployed  in  February,  1915,  in  New  York  City 
Earners  in  Certain  Selected  Occupations,  by  Sex 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Occupation 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Number 

Per  Cent. 

Building  trades: 

Bricklayers    and    stone- 

5,854 
12,229 

16,709 
2,702 

5,143 

32.5 
25.9 

43.9 
37.1 

23.1 

5,854 
12,229 

16,709 
2,702 

5,143 

32.5 

Carpenters 

Painters      and      paper- 
hangers  

25.9 

43.9 

37.1 

Plumbers,  gas  and  steam 

23.1 

Total 

42,637 

32.1 

42,637 

32.1 

2,560 
1,991 
2,963 

2,086 

3,792 

616 

1,825 

57,828 

3,176 
3,768 
2,038 
379 
4,479 

16.3 
14.0 

28.1 

18.3 
31.4 
50.9 
21.2 
34.2 

16.2 
13.1 
47.3 
5.2 
19.0 

2,560 
1,991 
2,963 

3,390 
5,333 
9,195 
1,825 

57,828 

3,176 
3,768 
2,038 
3,199 

5,688 

16.3 

Bartenders. . 

14.0 

28.1 

Cigar  makers  and  tobacco 

workers 

Cooks 

Dressmakers 

1,304 
1,541 

8,579 

13.1 

8.7 
19.4 

15.9 
17.9 
20.2 

21.2 

34.2 

Longshoremen    and    steve- 
dores. . 

16.2 

13.1 

47.3 

Stenographers  and  typists . . . 
Waiters  and  waitresses 

2,820 
1,209 

7.3 
11.8 

7.0 
16.8 

Grand  total.  ..'.... 

130,138 

28.3 

15,453 

12.8 

145,591 

25.1 

In  this  table  are  included  all  occupations  for  which  the  data  necessary 
to  compute  the  percentages  of  unemployment  were  available.  The  estimated 
number  of  persons  in  the  various  occupations  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
which  is  used  as  the  basis  for  computing  the  percentages,  was  secured  from 


19 


the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census,  and  the  occupations  here  presented 
are  the  only  ones  of  importance  which  were  found  to  be  classified  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  data  secured  in  this  investigation.  For  the  others,  therefore, 
it  was  impossible  to  determine  a  basis  on  which  to  make  the  computation. 

This  tabulation  shows  the  highest  percentages  of  unemployment  among 
marble  and  stone  cutters,  in  the  building  trades,  and  among  common  laborers. 
It  shows  that  47.3  per  cent,  of  all  marble  and  stone  cutters  were  out  of  work. 
Unemployment  in  the  building  trades  was  as  follows :  Bricklayers  and  stone- 
masons, 32.5  per  cent.;  carpenters,  25.9  per  cent.;  painters  and  paper- 
hangers,  43.9  per  cent.;  plasterers,  37.1  per  cent.;  plumbers,  gas  and  steam 
fitters,  23.1  per  cent.,  or  an  average  of  32.1  per  cent,  of  all  workers  in  these 
several  building  trades.  It  also  shows  the  percentages  of  unemployment  in 
other  occupations  as  follows:  Bakers,  16.3  per  cent.;  longshoremen  and 
stevedores,  16.2  per  cent.;*  machinists,  13.1  per  cent.;  stenographers  and 
typists,  7  per  cent.;  and  common  laborers,  combined  without  regard  to 
industry,  34.2  per  cent. 

The  percentage  of  unemployment  in  all  occupations  other  than  those 
named  above,  estimated  on  the  same  basis,  is  13.9  per  cent.,  and  the  per- 
centage of  all  wage  earners  included  in  this  canvass  in  all  occupations 
combined,  16.2  per  cent.,  as  stated  on  page  12. 

The  table  on  page  16  shows  that  the  number  of  unemployed  workers 
in  the  clothing  trades  was  larger  than  in  any  other  industry  scheduled  except 
in  the  building  trades  and  among  common  laborers.  That  industry,  however, 
has  not  been  included  in  the  above  presentation  because  of  the  fact  that 
the  classification  of  the  clothing  trade  occupations  in  the  report  of  the  Bureau 
of  the  Census,  which  is  used  as  the  basis  for  computing  percentages,  is  made 
on  a  different  basis  from  that  on  which  the  data  in  this  study  have  been 
classified.  Therefore,  it  is  impossible  to  compute  accurately  a  percentage 
of  unemployment  for  this  industry. 

The  highest  percentage  shown  for  any  occupation  is  for  male  dressmakers, 
which  shows  that  a  little  more  than  50  per  cent,  were  out  of  work.  The 
percentage  of  female  dressmakers  unemployed,  however,  was  only  19.4 
per  cent.,  making  an  average  for  the  whole  trade,  both  male  and  female, 
of  20.2  per  cent.  The  percentages  of  unemployment  for  all  trades  and 
occupations  included  in  this  table  were  28.3  per  cent,  for  males  and  12.8 
per  cent,  for  females,  making  an  average  of  25.1  per  cent,  for  both  sexes. 

Resurvey  of  Unemployment  in  August  and  September,  1915 

In  the  last  week  of  August  and  the  first  three  weeks  of  September,  1915, 
the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company  and  the  United  States  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  made  a  resurvey  of  unemployment,  in  order  to  compare 


*  In  connection  with  the  percentage  of  unemployment  shown  for  longshoremen  and  stevedores,  it  should 
be  noted  that  the  figures  refer  to  Greater  New  York  only.  They  do  not,  therefore,  purport  to  represent 
conditions  in  Hoboken  and  vicinity,  when  m  lines  have  their  terminals  and  where  because 

of  the  discontinuance  of  the  business  of  those  lines  an  unusual  amount  of  unemployment  among  longshore- 
men and  stevedores  may  prevail.  It.  New  York  City  the  shipping  business  had  at  the  time  of  this  survey 
improved  ever  the  conditions  prevailing  late  in  1914. 

20 


the  amount  of  unemployment  found  in  the  latter  period  with  that  found  in 
January  and  February,  1915.  The  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company 
canvassed  the  same  industrial  policyholders  as  in  the  earlier  canvass,  except 
that  the  latter  canvass  did  not  include  residents  of  the  outlying  boroughs. 
The  number  of  families  covered  was  two-thirds  of  the  number  canvassed 
in  January.  The  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  canvassed  resi- 
dents of  the  same  city  blocks  and  tenement  houses  as  in  February.  The 
Committee  and  city  departments  co-operated  as  in  the  previous  canvass, 
by  furnishing  city  inspectors  to  assist  the  bureau.  The  accompanying 
summary  table  gives  the  results  of  both  investigations,  compared  with  the 
results  cf  the  previous  canvasses  made  by  the  same  agencies. 

Summary  of  Unemployment  in  January  and  September,   1915,  and  in  February 

and  September,  1915 


Metropolitan  Life 
Insurance  Company 


January- 


September 


United  States  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics 


February 


September 


Families  canvassed 

Families    having    unemployed    wage- 
earners  

Per  cent,  families  with  unemployment .  . 

Persons  in  families 

Wage-earners  in  families 

Unemployed  wage-earners 

Percentage  of  wage-earners  unemployed . 


155,960 

37,064 

23.7 

639,436* 

252,912 

45,241 

18.0 


100,951 

11,408 
11.3 

413,146* 
141,616t 
12,865 
9.1 


54,849 

11,723 
21.4 

229,428 

95,443 

15,417 

16.2 


56,539 

5,480 

235,628 

97.741 

6,529 

6.9 


*  Estimate  based  upon  average  number  (4 . 1)  of  persons  found  in  families  in  census  of  September,  1915. 
t  106,179  are  full  time,  22,572  part  time  wage-earners. 

Assuming  the  number  of  wage  earners  in  New  York  City  to  be  2,455,000, 
as  is  assumed  by  the  Federal  Bureau,  and  the  percentages  of  unemployment 
found,  to  be  representative,  the  total  number  of  unemployed  wage  earners 
in  September,  1915,  had  fallen  from  approximately  400,000  in  February, 
1915,  to  approximately  164,500,  according  to  the  federal  census,  or  approxi- 
mately 218,000,  according  to  that  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany. |  During  the  seven  and  eight  months  period  intervening  between 
the  earlier  and  later  canvasses,  the  percentage  of  unemployment  among 
the  industrial  policy  holders  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company 
had  decreased  50  per  cent.,  and  that  among  the  general  population  canvassed 
by  the  Federal  Bureau,  58.6  per  cent. 

The  following  table  summarizes  data  as  to  industry,  sex  and  periods  of 
unemployment  for  10,622  of  the  12,865  unemployed  wage  earners  scheduled 
by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company. §  71  per  cent,  of  this  number, 
"could  not  find  work,"  15  per  cent,  were  "sick  or  disabled,"  7  per  cent,  were 
unemployed  because  of  all  other  causes,  and  in  7  per  cent,  of  cases  the  cause 
of  unemployment  was  unknown. 


t  The  percentages  of  unemployment  found  by  the  two  methods  used  do  not  coincide  in  the  latter  inves- 
tigations as  closely  as  did  the  percentages  in  the  former  surveys. 

§  Detailed  data  of  the  census  supervised  by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  will  appear 
in  a  forthcoming  bulletin  of  the  Bureau. 


21 


Number    of    Persons   Out   of   Employment   in   September,    1915,    Classified    by 

Industry,  Sex,  and  Periods  of  Unemployment,  as  Shown  by  Inquiry 

of  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company 


Number  of  Persons  at 

Each  Period 

of  Unemployment 

Sex 

No. 
un- 

I MX  STRY 

em- 

1 to 

8  to 

14  to 

31  to 

61  to 

91  to 

121   to 

181 

Un- 

ployed 

7 

13 

30 

60 

90 

120 

180 

days  & 

known 

days 

days 

days 

days 

days 

days 

days 

over 

All    Occupations  —  Males 

and  Females 

10,622 

291 

151 

1,547 

1,786 

1,450 

784 

1,037 

2,827 

749 

M. 

IJB01 

I.S44 

1,088 

590 

881 

2.377 

659 

F. 

6S 

17 

346 

m 

362 

194 

156 

450 

190 

Agriculture,  Forestry  and 

Animal  Husbandry. . 

M. 

46 

1 

6 

8 

4 

3 

11 

12 

1 

Manufacturing    and    Me- 

chanical Industries. 

M. 

3,632 

105 

81 

526 

612 

443 

247 

355 

1,036 

227 

F. 

806 

22 

5 

151 

182 

148 

58 

54 

141 

45 

M. 

1,354 

44 

35 

194 

242 

201 

90 

135 

365 

88 

Chemical    and    Allied 

M. 

10 

2 

3 

2 

3 

2 

4 

Clay,  Glass  and  Stone 

Products 

M. 
M. 

123 
385 

5 
5 

4 

7 

16 
53 

11 
75 

11 
47 

6 
31 

20 
21 

39 
119 

11 

Clothing 

27 

F. 

213 

7 

1 

50 

43 

38 

11 

23 

27 

13 

Food  and  Kindred  Pro- 

ducts  

M. 
F. 

106 
33 

2 
2 

12 

7 

25 
5 

17 
7 

6 
6 

19 
2 

23 
4 

2 

Iron,   Steel  and   Their 

Products 

M. 

235 

9 

4 

12 

50 

26 

12 

20 

58 

14 

Leather  and  Its  Finish- 

M. 

114 

2 

1 

22 

21 

12 

14 

14 

25 

3 

F. 

11 

4 

1 

4 

1 

1 

Liquor  and  Beverages.. 

M. 

33 

2 

8 

5 

7 

i 

4 

5 

1 

Lumber    and    Its    Re- 

manufacture 

M. 

176 

3 

3 

29 

23 

17 

16 

25 

53 

7 

F. 

6 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

.Metals  and  Metal  Pro- 

ducts  (except  Iron 

and   Steel) 

M. 

112 

1 

2 

15 

13 

15 

5 

12 

43 

6 

F. 

5 

1 

2 

1 

1 

Paper  Products  Workers 

M. 

30 

"2 

1 

8 

"i 

1 

6 

7 

1 

F. 

27 

1 

1 

4 

6 

5 

1 

1 

6 

2 

Printing     and     Book- 

binding  

M. 
F. 

32 

14 

2 

12 

25 
2 

29 
9 

28 
4 

19 
4 

15 
4 

75 
6 

18 

1 

Textiles 

M. 

71 

i 

12 

13 

10 

1 

4 

24 

6 

F. 

35 

11 

3 

7 

2 

1 

6 

2 

Miscellaneous     Indus- 

tries  

M. 

(542 

16 

10 

94 

95 

85 

45 

58 

196 

43 

F. 

444 

9 

3 

69 

113 

83 

33 

21 

88 

25 

Transportation 

M. 

1,163 

42 

13 

203 

186 

142 

74 

83 

347 

73 

F. 

50 

2 

3 

5 

6 

4 

8 

16 

6 

Express  Companies.  .  .  . 

M. 

109 

2 

15 

19 

7 

6 

11 

37 

12 

Post  Office  Employees. 

M. 

11 

1 

1 

2 

1 

4 

2 

Road,  Street  &  Bridge 

M. 

620 

16 

9 

100 

106 

93 

46 

36 

178 

36 

M. 

194 

13 

4 

39 

17 

20 

10 

13 

68 

10 

Telegraph     and    Tele- 

Employees.  .  . 

M. 

21 

3 

4 

1 

2 

:•; 

5 

F. 

50 

2 

3 

:. 

'  "o 

1 

8 

16 

0 

Water  Transportation   . 

M. 

208 

8 

44 

39 

20 

10 

1!) 

55 

13 

Trade 

M. 

1 

1,670 
635 

44 
15 

18 
11 

211 
72 

252 
121 

241 
98 

134 
65 

201 
58 

444 
142 

125 

53 

Banking,        Bro' 

M. 

42 

2 

4 

1 

6 

6 

5 

15 

3 

I'-. 

8 

1 

1 

1 

1 

•1 

.1  Estate  Em] 

M. 

24 

1 

1 

5 

2 

1 

10 

4 

1 

11 

1 

2 

2 

3 

3 

Wholesale  and    Retail 

Trade 

M. 

1,604 

42 

18 

206 

250 

230 

126 

195 

419 

118 

F. 

616 

1.". 

11 

7il 

lis 

95 

(il 

58 

135 

53 

Public  Service 

M. 
M. 

139 
150 

2 
2 

1 

4 

16 
11 

20 

24 

12 
32 

12 
11 

14 

17 

49 

42 

13 

Professional  Service 

8 

F. 

32 

1 

2 

3 

12 

6 

7 

1 

Domestic     and     Personal 

Service 

M. 

593 

20 

13 

96 

94 

100 

31 

66 

137 

36 

F. 

634 

20 

1 

109 

122 

98 

47 

26 

130 

81 

Industry  Not  Stated 

M. 

1  009 

13 

3 

132 

148 

114 

78 

134 

311 

76 

F. 

63 

3 

11 

10 

9 

8 

4 

14 

4 

Occupations,  Not  Stated. . . 

2,243 

•S2- 


Canvass  of  Selected  Trade  Unions 

A  special  investigator  for  the  Committee  canvassed  certain  selected  trade  unions 
and  secured  information  from  the  secretaries  of  twelve  unions  in  the  needle  trades  affiliated 
with  the  United  Hebrew  Trades.  These  officials  reported  that  out  of  a  membership  of 
129,750 — 80,640  were  unemployed  in  December,  1914,  as  compared  with  32,975  out  of 
work  in  December,  1913.  The  increased  unemployment  in  December,  1914,  over  December, 
1913,  amounted  to  47,665  persons.  If  these  figures  may  be  relied  upon,  they  show  that 
62  per  cent,  of  the  members  of  these  12  needle  trade  unions  were  out  of  work  at  this  time. 
It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  employment  in  the  needle  trades  is  highly  fluc- 
tuating because  of  the  seasonal  character  of  the  industry. 

Inquiry  as  to  Credit  Accounts  in  Neighborhood  Stores 

At  the  request  of  the  Committee,  seventeen  of  the  social  settlements,  each  in  its  own 
locality,  made  a  canvass  of  the  smaller  retail  stores  in  order  to  ascertain  the  amount  of 
credit  being  asked  for  by  the  residents  of  these  various  districts. 

The  workers  of  the  Friendly  House  Society,  Harrison  Street,  on  the  lower  east  side, 
Manhattan,  made  inquiry  among  70  small  food  stores.  Fifty-two  of  these  reported  being 
asked  for  more  credit,  both  by  people  to  whom  credit  had  formerly  been  given,  and  by 
people  who  had  never  before  asked  for  it.  Credit  was  generally  refused.  The  butchers 
in  this  section  had  an  agreement  among  themselves  not  to  grant  more  than  seven  days' 
credit  except  where  collection  was  certain.     The  people  were  buying  cheaper  meat. 

The  Warren  Goddard  House  reported  having  interviewed  29  butchers  and  grocers 
on  Second  Avenue,  between  28th  and  38th  Streets,  and  on  34th  Street,  between  Third 
Avenue  and  the  East  River.  These  merchants  reported  requests  for  twice  as  much  credit 
as  in  the  preceding  year.  Credit  was  given  to  only  a  few  of  their  oldest  customers.  The 
East  Side  Settlement  House,  76th  Street  and  the  East  River,  interviewed  33  small  merchants 
in  its  vicinity,  who  reported  that  they  were  carrying  more  credits  than  in  the  year  before, 
30  of  the  stores  carrying  twice  as  many  credits  and  3  of  them  carrying  three  times  as  many. 
These  merchants  reported  that  people  asked  for  credit  who  had  never  asked  for  credit  before. 
The  East  Side  Branch  of  the  Henry  Street  Settlement  reported  for  36  merchants  on  Avenue 
A,  First  and  Second  Avenues,  and  cross  streets  between  78th  and  81st  Streets,  showing 
that  19  stores  had  an  increase  in  requests  for  credit;  7  stores  estimated  the  increase  from 
10  per  cent,  to  five  times  the  usual  number;  15  stores  reported  requests  for  credit  where 
their  customers  usually  pay  cash. 

The  workers  of  Union  Settlement,  East  104th  Street,  interviewed  32  small  butchers 
and  grocers,  who  made  similar  reports.  Hartley  House  reported  that  14  dealers  on  Ninth 
Avenue,  between  West  45th  and  50th  Streets,  said  that  business  was  normal,  or  better 
than  last  year,  though  two  merchants  reported  themselves  as  carrying  more  credits  than 
the  year  before.  This  section  is  the  only  exception  to  those  reporting  a  general  increase 
in  credits  and  less  cash  business  than  the  preceding  year.  The  Doe  Ye  Nexte  Thynge 
Society  workers  interviewed  40  merchants,  17  of  whom  reported  a  decrease  in  business, 
but  no  increase  in  credits,  because  the  merchants  generally  refused  to  do  credit  business. 
Thirty-three  reported  more  requests  for  credit  and  the  purchase  of  less  and  poorer  food  by 
their  customers. 

Settlement  workers  in  Brooklyn  reported  a  decrease  in  sales  in  the  Greenpoint  section. 
Credit  was  not  given  for  fear  of  inability  to  collect.  The  investigations  made  by  workers 
of  ten  other  settlements  showed  similar  conditions. 


Census  of  Homeless  Men 

A  census  was  twice  taken  of  "homeless"  men  and  women,  the  last  time  on 
January  30th  to  31st  (before  and  after  midnight),  when  a  complete  count  was  made 
of  all   living   in   lodging  houses   charging   25   cents  or   less   per  night,   or  sleeping   in 

23 


shelters,  employment  agencies,  back  rooms  of  saloons,  or  found  in  unprotected  places. 
This  number  was  found  to  be  25,969,  of  which  1,831  were  in  the  Municipal  Lodging  House, 
269  at  the  Farm  Colony  of  the  Department  of  Public  Charities,  Staten  Island,  and  628 
at  the  Ellis  Island  Immigrant  Station.  This  latter  number  does  not  include  the  183 
immigrants  in  immigrant  homes.  19,417  were  found  to  be  in  cheap  lodging  houses.  It 
should  be  explained  that  it  was  not  deemed  practicable  to  differentiate  the  employed  living 
in  cheap  lodging  houses,  of  whom  there  are  a  certain  variable  number,  from  the  unemployed. 
Our  figures  included  all  occupants  found  on  the  date  of  the  census.* 

One  hundred  and  thirty-five  persons — 118  men  and  17  women — were  found  sleeping 
in  employment  agencies.  1,543  men  and  130  women  were  found  in  missions.  341  persons, 
one  of  whom  was  a  woman,  were  found  in  the  rear  rooms  of  saloons  after  legal  closing  hours, 
and  343  persons,  4  of  whom  were  women,  were  found  on  public  thoroughfares,  bridges, 
docks,  and  in  parks,  without  shelter.t 


Increased  Demands  Upon  Relief  Societies 

The  demands  upon  relief  societies  for  care  and  support  constitute  an 
index  of  general  conditions.  October,  1912,  to  September,  1913  (the  fiscal 
year  of  these  societies)  was  a  normal  year.  In  the  year  1913-1914,  unem- 
ployment became  a  factor  of  serious  concern.  In  1914-1915  the  European 
war  brought  about  more  acute  disturbance  of  trade  resulting  in  widespread 
unemployment. 

During  the  last  quarter  of  1912  the  four  largest  relief  societies:}:  of  the 
City  had  in  their  care  a  monthly  average  of  7,670  families. §  In  1913  this 
number  had  increased  to  8,494,  and  in  1914  to  11,940,  an  increase  over  1912 
of  10  per  cent,  and  55  per  cent,  respectively.  During  the  first  quarter  of 
1913  a  monthly  average  of  9,465  families  was  cared  for.  In  1914  the  monthly 
average  for  the  same  quarter  was  11,428,  and  in  1915,  15,231,  an  increase 
of  20.7  per  cent,  and  61  per  cent,  respectively.  During  the  second  quarter 
(April  to  June)  the  monthly  average  figures  for  1913,  1914  and  1915  were 
8,187,  10,534  and  13,575  respectively,  or  in  1914  and  1915  an  increase  over 
1912  of  28.6  per  cent,  and  65.8  per  cent,  respectively. 

During  the  third  quarters  (July  to  September)  of  1913,  1914  and  1915, 
these  societies  cared  for  a  monthly  average  of  7,448,  9,975  and  10,715 
families  respectively.  In  1914  and  1915  the  increase  over  1913  amounted 
to  34  per  cent,  and  44  per  cent,  respectively. 

The  combined  expenditures  of  these  four  societies  for  material  relief 


*  On  the  night  of  January  22,  1916,  a  similar  census  was  taken  by  the  Police  Department.  There 
was  found  to  be  a  total  of  21,988  persons,  of  which  788  was  in  the  Municipal  Lodging  House,  a  decrease 
from  the  previous  year  of  3,981,  or  11  per  cent.  The  1916  census  included  an  effort  to  ascertain  the  amount 
of  unemployment  (exclusive  of  Municipal  Lodging  House  inmates)  among  the  21,200  men  and  women 
interviewed. 

15,815,  or  74.6  per  cent.,  stated  that  they  were  working,  and  5.3S5,  or  25.4  per  cent.,  stated  that 
they  were  unemployed.  This  classification  between  employed  and  unemployed  was  based  upon  the  state- 
ments of  the  men  and  women  themselves,  and  includes  employment  of  every  degree  of  permanency.  It 
was  impossible  to  draw  the  line  at  any  point  between  the  employed  and  the  unemployed.  64  per  cent,  of  the 
total  number  interviewed  were  natives  of  New  York  or  had  been  in  New  York  for  more  than  two  years. 
Only  36  per  cent,  had  been  in  New  York  less  than  two  years. 

I  were  on  a  mission  bread  line,  after  midnight;   3  women  were  observed  on  the  streets,  so  that  only 
20  are  known  to  have  been  sleeping  in  unsheltered  plac 

%  Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  Charity  Organization  Society,  United  Hebrew 
Charities,  Brooklyn  Bureau  of  Charities. 

§  Brooklyn  Bureau  of  Charities  omitted. 

24 


during  the  last  quarter  of  1912  amounted  to  $101,932.*  In  1913  and  1914, 
for  the  same  period,  they  spent  $110,252  and  $139,032  respectively,  an 
increase  of  8  per  cent,  and  36.4  per  cent.  For  the  first  quarter  of  1913, 
1914  and  1915,  the  expenditures  for  material  relief  were  $112,423,  $130,346 
and  $195,884.  In  1914  and  1915  the  increased  expenditures  over  1913  for 
material  relief  during  this  quarter  amounted  to  16  per  cent,  and  74  per  cent, 
respectively.  During  the  second  quarter  (April  to  June)  the  expenditures 
on  this  account  were,  $111,460  in  1913,  $132,260  in  1914,  and  $176,150  in 
1915.  The  two  latter  years  involved  an  increase  of  18.6  per  cent,  and  58  per 
cent.,  respectively,  over  the  corresponding  three  months  of  1913. 

During  the  third  quarter  (July  to  September)  expenditures  for  material 
relief  amounted  to  $107,869  in  1913,  $127,600  in  1914,  and  $157,509  in  1915, 
an  increase  in  1914  and  1915  as  compared  with  1913,  of  19  per  cent,  and  46 
per  cent,  respectively. 

Summing  up  the  comparative  data  as  to  the  number  of  families  cared 
for  by  the  four  largest  relief  societies,  and  the  amount  expended  for  material 
relief  for  the  fiscal  years  1912-1913,  1913-1914  and  1914-1915,  the  figures 
show  that  the  monthly  average  number  of  families  was  8,192,  10,108  and 
12,915  respectively.  The  amount  expended  for  material  relief  for  each  of 
these  fiscal  years  was  $433,684,  $495,458  and  $668,575. f  The  average 
number  of  families  under  care  increased  in  1913-1914  and  1914-1915  over 
the  number  cared  for  in  1912-1913,  23  per  cent,  and  57  per  cent,  respectively, 
while  the  expenditures  for  relief  increased  14  per  cent,  and  70  per  cent, 
respectively. 

Bread  Lines 

New  York's  permanent  bread  line,  that  at  Fleischmann's  restaurant, 
Eleventh  Street  and  Broadway,  was  supplemented  by  others  established 
during  the  winter  at  the  Bowery  Mission,  227  Bowery,  at  9  First  Street, 
at  the  Knickerbocker  Hotel,  41st  Street  and  Broadway,  and  for  thirty  days 
at  39  East  19th  Street. 

The  Knickerbocker  bread  line  was  discontinued  March  21st,  the  "Sun" 
bread  line  (9  First  Street)  a  week  later,  and  the  Bowery  Mission  line  on 
April  4th. 

During  the  height  of  the  winter  season  the  number  of  people  in  four 
of  these  bread  lines  totalled  approximately  4,0004  From  March  1st  to  March 
15th  the  number  varied  from  3,100  to  about  3,700.  The  discontinuance 
of  any  one  bread  line  apparently  had  little  effect  upon  the  number  of  appli- 
cants at  any  other.  After  the  four  new  bread  lines  had  been  discontinued, 
the  number  in  the  Fleischmann  bread  line  was  not  affected  by  this  discon- 


*  None  of  the  figures  for  relief  includes  the  expenditures  of  the  Sisterhoods  affiliated  with  the  United 
Hebrew  Charities.  The  total  expenditures  in  all  cases  for  each  society  and  for  the  societies  as  a  whole  were 
arrived  at  by  adding  the  totals  for  each  month,  eliminating  in  each  case  the  cents.  The  figures  are  less  than 
the  actual  expenditures  though  sufficiently  accurate  for  purposes  of  comparison. 

t  Expenditures  for  material  relief  of  families  in  their  homes,  not  including  service  or  expenditures  for 
relief  other  than  to  families  in  their  homes. 

t  No  figures  are  available  for  39  East  19th  St. 

25 


tinuance,  although  when  the  five  bread  lines  were  in  operation  the  Fleisch- 
mann  line  did  not  attract  an  abnormal  number.*  The  census  of  the 
Flcischmann  bread  line  during  the  summer  shows  about  the  same  number 
of  applicants  daily  in  these  months  as  during  the  coldest  months  of  winter. 
In  addition  to  these  bread  lines,  free  soup  kitchens  were  opened  by  the 
Political  Equality  Association,  in  East  41st  Street,  by  unions  affiliated  with 
the  United  Hebrew  trades  in  Forsyth  Street,  and  by  other  organizations  for 
periods  varying  from  a  few  weeks  to  three  months.  In  City  Hall  Park  the 
Straus  Milk  Depot  was  turned  into  a  "Penny  Lunch"  stand  where  rolls 
and  coffee  at  a  penny  were  served. 

Plan  for  Securing  Facts  as  to  Employment  Fluctuations 

The  only  employment  data  secured  regularly  and  available  to  the  public, 
when  the  Committee  began  its  work,  were  returns  from  selected  trade  unions 
obtained  by  the  Statistical  Division  of  the  State  Department  of  Labor. 
These  were  published  in  the  form  of  semi-annual  and  annual  bulletins. 

A  group  of  experts  working  with  the  Committee  as  a  committee  on 
investigations,  considered  carefully  the  best  means  of  securing  continuing 
and  dependable  figures  with  regard  to  unemployment.  The  canvass  of 
the  industrial  policyholders  of  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company 
and  that  made  by  the  city  employees  and  immigration  inspectors  under  the 
United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  were  approved  and  furthered  as 
a  beginning  in  obtaining  some  reliable  measure  of  the  amount  and  incidence 
of  unemployment.  These  canvasses  usually  involve  a  great  amount  of  work, 
are  expensive,  and  can  be  undertaken  only  at  periodic  intervals.  Some 
other  means  must  be  looked  for.  The  consensus  of  opinion  favored  a  modest 
beginning  in  a  right  method  which  might  be  extended  as  experience  proved 
its  value.  The  committee  felt  that  the  most  important  thing  was  to  secure 
data  as  to  fluctuations  in  employment.  Irregularity  of  employment  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  greatest  factors  in  unemployment. 

A  schedule  of  inquiry  was  agreed  upon  in  which  two  needs  were  regarded 
as  fundamental  to  a  good  beginning: 
Total  number  of  employees — 
Total  amount  of  wages  paid  by  employers — 
in  each  payroll  period. 

It  was  learned  that  the  State  Department  of  Labor — now  the  Industrial 
Commission — the  chief  statistician  of  which  met  in  conference  with  our 
committee,  was  prepared  to  undertake  the  securing  of  this  data  from  repre- 
sentative manufacturers.  The  committee  agreed  that  it  was  wiser  to 
encourage  the  securing  of  this  information  as  a  matter  of  routine  by  a  public 
department  equipped  for  the  purpose  than  to  institute  any  inquiries  of  its 
own.  The  first  report  of  the  information  collected,  in  accordance  with  this 
plan,  from  nearly  1,300  representative  manufacturing  establishments  through- 

*  The  explanation  probably  i>  that  some  regular  applicants  in  the  Fleiflchmann  bread  line  wefe  attracted 
to  the  Bowery  Mission  li  n< -  when  the  latter  was  open  to  them.  Applicants  al  other  bread  lines  were  apparently 
not  served  by  the  Fleisohmann  line  when  the  other  lines  were  discontinued. 

26 


out  the  State  with  nearly  half  a  million  employees,  was  published  by  the 
State  Industrial  Commission  in  the  "Labor  Market"  (bulletin)  for  September, 
1915.* 

Special  Investigations  Made  for  Committee 

At  the  request  of  the  Committee  three  studies  were  made  by  a  member 
of  the  staff  of  the  Russell  Sage  Foundation  and  by  students  of  the  School 
of  Philanthropy  under  the  direction  of  Miss  Mary  Van  Kleeck: 

1  Study  of  Unemployment  in  the  families  of  children  applying    for  work 
certificates  from  January  to  April,  1915. 

2  Study  of  300  Girls  who  attended  the  scholarship  classes  of    the  Central 
Committee  on  Scholarships,  during  the  winter  of  1915. 

3  Study   of   Records   kept   in   public   employment    bureaus  throughout   the 
count  ry. 

The  condensed  report  of  the  first  two  of  these  studies  is  published  as 
an  appendix  to  this  report,  f 

The  third  report,  after  having  been  approved  by  the  committee  on 
investigations,  was  referred  to  the  American  Association  on  Unemployment 
(American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation)  with  the  recommendation 
that  that  association  take  up  the  subject  covered  by  the  report  with  officials 
of  the  American  Association  of  public  employment  officials.  The  standard 
record  forms  approved  in  this  report  form  the  basis  of  a  proposed  uniform 
record  system  for  the  bureaus  affiliated  with  the  newly  formed  Federation 
of  Non-Commercial  Employment  Bureaus.! 


Relief  Measures  Undertaken 
Emergency  Workrooms 

Among  the  many  plans  proposed  to  the  Mayor's  Committee  for  relieving 
the  acute  distress  of  the  winter,  that  of  offering  "emergency  employment" 
at  a  "tide-over"  wage,  from  funds  contributed  for  the  purpose,  appeared 
the  most  feasible  of  accomplishment.  Workrooms  had  been  opened  by  a 
few  churches  in  the  city,  notable  among  them  St.  Bartholomew's,  in  which 
unemployed  men  and  women  had  been  put  to  work  rolling  bandages  and 
making  surgical  supplies  for  distribution  among  the  Red  Cross  units  in  the 
warring  nations  of  Europe.  The  organization  of  these  temporary  workrooms, 
as  a  means  of  meeting  an  emergency  due  to  widespread  unemployment, 
had  been  promoted  on  a  considerable  scale  in  England.  In  that  country, 
through  the  "Queen  Mary  Fund,"  raised  by  popular  subscription,  workrooms 
had  been  opened  for  the  employment  of  women  thrown  out  of  their  accustomed 
employment  by  the  war. 


*  Published  monthly,  beginning  with  issue  of  September,  1915,  and  includes  comparative  monthly  em- 
ployment data  from  June,  1914,  to  date  of  publication.  These  bulletins  also  include  comparative  data  as 
to  estimated  cost  of  building  work  for  which  permits  have  been  issued  in  the  ten  largest  cities  of  the  State, 
and  employment  returns  from  trade  unions. 

t  Appendices  III  and  IV,  pp.  101,  104. 

J  See  p.  40. 

27 


Organization 

The  first  workroom  under  the  Mayor's  Committee  was  opened  in  a 
dock  department  building  at  the  foot  of  West  56th  Street  on  January  28th. 
This  was  rapidly  followed  by  others  until  there  were  twenty-two  workrooms 
giving  employment  to  as  many  as  5,000  persons  daily,  from  funds  raised 
and  administered  by  the  Committee.  The  work  of  organizing  and  directing 
these  workrooms  was  undertaken  by  three  special  committees.  Workrooms 
for  men,  of  which  there  were  thirteen  at  the  maximum,  were  in  charge  of 
Miss  Charlotte  M.  Boyd,  Deaconess  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Parish,  and  a 
group  of  interested  helpers.  Workrooms  for  women,  of  which  there  were 
four,  were  in  charge  of  the  Committee  on  Unemployment  Among  Women,* 
with  Mrs.  James  Speyer  as  chairman.  Workrooms  in  Brooklyn  and  the 
Salvation  Army  workroom  in  Manhattan,  five  in  all,  were  in  charge  of  the 
Rummage  Committee,  of  which  Mr.  William  Hamlin  Childs  was  chairman. 

General  Plan 

The  general  plan  followed  in  all  of  the  workrooms  was  to  give  employment 
for  five  days  a  week  to  those  who  could  not  be  placed  for  the  time  being  in 
regular  employment.  The  hours  of  employment  were  from  10  A.  M.  to  3 
P.  M.  The  workers  received  a  "tide-over"  wage  of  fifty  cents  a  day  and 
a  nourishing  noon-day  meal,  in  the  case  of  the  men,  and  sixty  cents  a  day 
in  that  of  the  women,  t  In  one  of  the  women's  workrooms  a  noon-day  meal 
was  served  for  which  a  charge  of  three  cents  was  made  to  cover  the  expense 
incurred  by  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  in  whose  school  the  workroom  was 
located.  In  the  other  women's  workrooms  it  was  found  best  to  allow  the 
women,  who  were  nearly  all  mothers,  and  many  with  husbands  out  of  work, 
to  go  home  at  noon  in  order  to  prepare  the  noon-day  meal  for  their  children. 

Care  was  taken  in  the  registration  of  applicants  to  include  those  who 
would  be  benefitted  most  by  the  kind  of  opportunity  provided  by  the  work- 
rooms. The  social  settlements  in  the  various  neighborhoods  referred 
applicants  to  the  workrooms,  as  did  various  other  social  agencies.  In 
addition,  there  was  direct  registration  at  the  workrooms  themselves. 

The  payment  made  to  the  workers  was  in  no  sense  regarded  as  a  wage. 
Every  effort  was  made  to  encourage  and  assist  the  workers  in  securing  regular 
employment.  Workroom  hours  were  fixed  so  that  there  would  be  time 
both  before  and  after  the  working  time  to  seek  such  employment. 

Occupations  Followed 

In  the  men's  workrooms  the  workers  were  engaged  in  rolling  bandages, 
making  other  surgical  supplies,  chair  caning,  cabinet  making,  cobbling, 
furniture  repairing,  raffia  weaving,  rug  weaving,  basketry,  in  the  manufacture 
of  fly  traps  for  the  health  department,  and  in  the  making  of  toys  and  other 


*  For  a  more  complete  account  of  the  operation  of  the  workrooms  for  women,  see  separate  report  pub- 
lished by  the  sub-committ<<-  on  Unemployment  Among  Women  in  which  full  credit  is  given  to  many  co-operating 
organizations  for  valuable  assistance  and  support. 

t  Up  to  February  15th,  the  women's  workrooms  were  open  six  days  a  week.  At  that  date  it  became 
necessary  to  change  to  a  five-day  week. 

28 


wooden  articles.  In  the  women's  workrooms  the  workers  made  women's 
and  children's  garments  by  hand,  including  blouses,  petticoats,  small  dresses, 
kimonos  and  boys'  blouses.  The  Rummage  Committee  collected  old  paper, 
discarded  furniture  and  other  household  supplies  in  astonishing  variety. 
The  paper  and  other  marketable  waste  was  sorted  and  baled.  The  furniture 
and  other  material  having  a  saleable  value  was  repaired  by  the  unemployed. 
The  revenue  from  the  sale  of  paper,  furniture  and  miscellaneous  articles 
(SI,  103. 92),  was  used  to  employ  more  men  in  the  unremunerative  branches 
of  the  work. 

Disposition  of  the  Product 

Except  for  the  material  collected  by  the  Rummage  Committee,  the  sale 
of  which  did  not  compete  with  any  established  industry,  nothing  made  in 
any  of  the  workrooms  was  sold  in  the  market.  The  surgical  supplies  prepared 
in  the  men's  workrooms  were  sent  in  turn  to  each  of  the  belligerent  nations 
engaged  in  the  European  war.  Later  these  supplies  were  given  to  certain 
of  the  New  York  hospitals  receiving  charity  patients.  The  men  in  the 
workrooms  cobbled  their  own  and  one  another's  shoes  and  were  paid  for  doing 
so.  The  fly  traps  made  for  the  health  department  were  used  in  the  "swat 
the  fly"  campaign.  Private  sales  of  furniture  and  toys  among  the  charitably 
inclined  helped  to  increase  the  ability  of  the  committee  to  keep  the  work- 
rooms in  operation  longer  than  wrould  otherwise  have  been  possible,  although 
the  amount  realized  in  this  way  was  not  large. 

Garments  made  in  the  women's  workrooms  were  disposed  of  mainly 
through  the  Children's  Aid  Society,  in  whose  school  buildings  the  workrooms 
were  located.  A  very  large  percentage  of  the  garments  went  to  the  families 
of  the  women  who  worked  on  them.  Hospitals,  settlements  and  relief 
societies  also  received  a  share  of  what  was  made. 

Location  of  the  Shops 

Workrooms  for  Men 

Docks  and  Ferries  Department  Building,  56th  Street  and  Hudson  River. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association  Building,  549  East  49th  Street. 

St.  Philip's  Church  (for  negroes),  212  West  134th  Street. 

Christ  Church,  344  West  36th  Street. 

Union  Settlement,  237  East  104th  Street. 

University  Settlement,  184  Eldridge  Street. 

College  Settlement,  86  First  Street. 

Hamilton  Fish  Library,  388  East  Houston  Street. 

Loft  Building,  589  Grand  Street. 

Diocesan  House,  416  Lafayette  Street. 

Alfred  Corning  Clark  House,  283  Rivington  Street. 

Brooklyn  Bureau  of  Charities,  164  Atlantic  Avenue,  Brooklyn. 

Clinton  Avenue  Congregational  Church  (Emanuel  House,  Brooklyn.) 

Workrooms  for  Women 

Children's  Aid  Society  School,  154  Hester  Street. 
Children's  Aid  Society  School,  295  East  Eighth  Street. 
256  Mott  Street. 
287  East  Broadway. 

29 


Workrooms  Conducted  by  the  Rummage  Committee 

22  Bergen  Street,  Brooklyn. 

Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  376  Schermerhorn  Street,  Brooklyn. 
Brooklyn  Bureau  of  Charities,  164  Atlantic  Avenue,  Brooklyn. 
Salvation  Army,  120  West  14th  Street. 

Summary  of  Number  Employed  and  Number  of  Days'  Work  Given 

The  thirteen  men's  workrooms,  conducted  under  the  chairmanship  of 
Miss  Charlotte  M.  Boyd,  employed  8,558  different  men  for  a  total  of  138,686 
days'  work  from  January  28,  1915,  to  April  16,  1915. 

The  four  women's  workrooms  conducted  by  the  Committee  on  Unem- 
ployment Among  Women,  employed  a  daily  average  of  886  women  for  a 
total  of  51,720  days'  work  from  January  21,  1915,  to  April  30,  1915.  These 
totals  include  a  daily  average  of  twenty-six  women  employed  for  a  total  of 
5,642  days'  work  as  supervisors,  cutters,  forewomen  and  helpers  who,  except 
for  three  individuals,  were  themselves  among  the  unemployed  who  would 
otherwise  have  been  in  distress. 

The  five  workrooms  conducted  by  the  Rummage  Committee  employed 
1,629  men  and  women  for  a  total  of  25,023  days. 

The  22  workrooms  gave  a  total  of  215,429  days'  work  over  the  period 
during  which  the  workrooms  were  operated.* 

Co-operation 

In  the  operation  of  the  workrooms  the  Mayor's  Committee  met  with 
the  most  cordial  co-operation  from  individuals  and  organizations.  Volunteer 
service  in  the  supervision  of  the  workrooms,  the  donation  of  all  the  space 
utilized  by  the  workrooms,  and,  in  many  cases,  of  the  materials  used,  cut 
down  the  overhead  expense  to  a  minimum.  The  churches,  settlements, 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 
Children's  Aid  Society,  Salvation  Army,  and  the  charitable  societies  in 
whose  buildings  the  workshops  were  located,  not  only  donated  the  buildings 
themselves,  with  heat,  light  and  janitor  service,  but  in  nearly  every  case 
contributed  the  services  of  trained  and  volunteer  workers,  without  which 
the  workrooms  could  not  have  been  so  successfully  and  economically  managed. 


Training  Classes  for  Unemployed  Girlsj 

A  "Central  Committee  on  Scholarships,"  a  sub-committee  of  the 
Committee  on  Unemployment  Among  Women,  was  organized  to  help  girls 
who  were  out  of  work  and  in  need  of  an  income.  It  was  found  by  the  philan- 
thropic employment  bureaus  that  many  of  the  girls  applying  to  them  for 
work  were  in  need  of  further  training  to  make  it  possible  to  place  them 


♦The  total  number  of  different  persona  employed  cannot  be  given  because  "i  the  lack  of  data  from  one 
group  of  workrooms.  It  is  to  be  understood  that  not  all  the  workrooms  were  in  operation  for  the  whole 
period  given  as  that  during  which  the  three  committees  conducted  workrooms. 

t  See  separate  report  published  by  sub-committee  on  Unemployment  Among  Women  for  a  complete 
account  of  the  work  of  these  classes. 

30 


2      « 


satisfactorily.     The  committee  decided  to  capitalize  the  unemployed  time 
of  these  workers  by  organizing  training  classes  for  their  benefit. 

Classes  for  office  workers  and  trade  workers  had  been  established,  prior 
to  the  formation  of  the  Central  Committee,  by  the  Vacation  War  Relief 
Committee,  in  co-operation  with  the  Julia  Richman  High  School  and  the 
Manhattan  Trade  School.  Upon  the  formation  of  the  Central  Committee 
nine  private  organizations,  interested  in  unemployed  girls,  including  the 
Vacation  War  Relief  Committee,  affiliated  with  the  Central  Committee, 
sharing  the  expenses  incurred.* 

Seven  classes,  including  the  two  already  organized,  were  established 
for  the  benefit  of  stenographers,  bookkeepers  and  clerical  workers,  trade 
workers,  needle  workers,  and  for  training  in  domestic  science.  The  hours 
were  the  same  as  in  the  regular  workrooms  so  that  the  girls  might  have 
some  free  time  to  look  for  regular  employment. 

Girls  with  technical  skill  were  given  supplementary  training  along 
the  lines  of  their  chosen  occupations.  Girls  without  special  training  who 
had  worked  at  a  variety  of  "odd  jobs"  were  given  certain  work  tests  to  find 
out  for  what  kind  of  work  they  were  best  fitted. 

"Scholarships"  of  sixty  cents  per  day  for  a  five-day  week  were  provided 
so  that  the  girls  might  be  "tided  over"  while  they  were  being  trained.  A 
special  class  was  formed  for  girls  who  did  not  need  emergency  aid,  but 
who  did  need  supplementary  training. 

The  class  for  stenographers,  bookkeepers  and  clerical  workers  was 
conducted  under  the  direction  of  the  Julia  Richman  High  School.  The 
class  for  trade  workers  was  conducted  under  the  direction  of  the  Manhattan 
Trade  School.  The  classes  for  needle  workers  and  in  domestic  science  were 
provided  with  teachers  by  the  department  of  education.  In  addition, 
other  teachers  were  provided  by  the  Committee. 

Over  1,000  different  girls  were  reached  in  the  various  classes.  448  were 
placed  in  regular  employment,  some  at  double  their  former  wages  because 
of  the  additional  training  received. 

The  following  organizations  were  represented  in  the  membership  of  the 
Central  Committee:  Young  Women's  Christian  Association,  Vacation  War 
Relief  Committee,  Manhattan  Trade  School,  Henry  Street  Settlement, 
Children's  Aid  Society,  New  York  Probation  and  Protective  Association, 
Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  Charity  Organization 
Society,  Alliance  Employment  Bureau,  Emergency  Relief  Committee  for 
Jewish  Girls,  f 

Six  thousand  dollars  was  appropriated  by  the  Mayor's  Committee  to  pay 
for  "scholarships"  in  the  various  classes  maintained.  After  these  and  other 
funds  were  exhausted,  the  Julia  Richman  High  School  and  the  Manhattan 
Trade  School  continued  classes  for  commercial  and  clerical  workers  and  for 


*  The  maintenance,  equipment  and  supervision  expenses,  other  than  the  teachers  assigned  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Education,  was  borne  by  these  organizations,  the  Junior  League  and  private  contributors.  Mayor's 
Committee  funds  were  used  for  scholarships  only. 

t  See  separate  report  of  sub-committee  on  Unemployment  Among  Women  for  account  of  the  contri- 
butions of  these  organizations  to  the  Central  Committee's  Work. 

31 


trade  workers,  without  the  "scholarship"  feature.  The  former  was  enabled, 
through  funds  furnished  the  school  principal  by  the  Vacation  War  Relief 
Committee,  which  paid  all  expenses  not  assumed  by  the  department  of 
education,  to  pay  the  salaries  of  three  teachers  during  the  vacation  season 
and  maintain  trade  extension  classes  for  office  and  clerical  workers  through- 
out the  summer.  These  extension  classes  were  located  in  a  loft  building  in 
West  17th  Street,  donated  rent  free  by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance 
Company.  On  December  6,  1915,  these  classes,  and  later  in  the  month  thoee 
of  the  Manhattan  Trade  School,  were  housed  in  the  loft  building  owned  by 
the  City  at  49  Lafayette  Street,  so  as  to  permit  an  increased  enrollment 
(to  75)  in  each  class  and  make  them  more  readily  accessible  to  the  Public 
Employment  Bureau  located  on  the  ground  floor  of  the  same  building. 

Bundle  Day 

February  4,  1915,  was  "Bundle  Day,"  organized  by  and  at  the  suggestion 
of  Miss  Frances  Kcllor.  The  following  is  summarized  from  a  report  pub- 
lished March  10th,  1915,  by  the  Bundle  Day  Committee: 

The  committee  secured  the  co-operation  of  Mr.  Rodman  Wanamaker, 
who  offered  the  sendees  of  the  John  Wanamaker  Store,  including  its  advertis- 
ing and  delivery  departments.  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Appel  of  Wanamaker's,  took 
charge  of  the  advertising  campaign,  and  with  the  co-operation  of  the 
committee,  obtained  free  advertising  space  in  the  following  newspapers: 
"The  Herald,"  "The  Sun,"  "The  American,"  "The  Globe,"  "The  Mail," 
"The  Journal  of  Commerce,"  "The  Press,"  "The  Evening  Post,"  "The 
Evening  Sun,"  "The  Evening  Journal,"  "The  Brooklyn  Times,"  the  "New 
York  Staats  Zeitung,"  O'Flaherty's  "Suburban  List,"  the  "Morning  Tele- 
graph," "The  Evening  Telegram,"  "The  German  Herold,"  "The  Bronx 
Home  News,"  "The  German  Journal,"  "The  Brooklyn  Citizen,"  and  the 
"Brooklyn  Standard  Union."  Advertising  continued  for  a  period  of  five 
days,  and  included  half-page  and  quarter-page  display  advertisements, 
cartoons,  and  stories  on  unemployment  conditions. 

Six  hundred  moving  picture  houses,  on  the  Saturday  and  Sunday 
preceding  "Bundle  Day,"  exhibited  a  screen  showing  a  letter  of  endorsement 
from  Mayor  Mitchel.  Special  assistance  was  rendered  by  the  Postal  Tele- 
graph Co.,  the  American,  Adams  and  Wells  Fargo  Express  Companies, 
secured  through  Mr.  Cornelius  Vanderbilt.  Tags  to  be  used  in  collecting 
the  bundles  were  distributed  to  school  children  and  in  churches,  department 
stores,  etc.,  a  number  of  the  larger  stores  putting  tags  on  every  purchase 
for  two  days  preceding  "Bundle  Day."  More  than  one  million  tags  were 
distributed.  The  committee  estimates  from  its  records  that  it  distributed 
over  two  million  articles  of  clothing  serving  some  300,000  people  in  Man- 
hattan and  the  Bronx.  "Bundle  Day"  headquarters  were  at  No.  210  Fifth 
Avenue.  Other  storage  room  was  secured  at  44  East  Fourteenth  Street, 
No.  76  Fifth  Avenue,  No.  746  Broadway  and  at  the  Bush  Terminal  in 
Brooklyn. 

The  collection  of  the  bundles  was  an  enormous  task.     Great  quantities 

32 


of  clothing,  new  and  old,  were  collected  at  240  public  schools,  99 
parochial  schools  and  89  police  stations,  and  at  the  terminals  of  seven 
railroad  lines  entering  New  York.  Several  department  stores  opened 
"Bundle  Day"  stations.  Twenty-five  stables  of  the  department  of  street 
cleaning  were  used  as  temporary  stations  for  bundles  collected  from  public 
schools. 

Two  city  departments,  three  express  companies,  eleven  department 
stores  and  six  van  companies  contributed  the  use  of  their  vehicles.  In 
addition,  75  boy  scouts  and  telegraph  messengers  were  made  available  for 
emergency  calls. 

The  committee  conducted  an  emergency  workshop  employing  about 
400  people  at  a  dollar  a  day.  In  addition  to  this  a  repair  shop  employing 
from  70  to  100  people  a  day  was  operated,  consisting  of  a  sewing  room,  a 
tailor  shop  and  a  cobbler's  shop. 

The  Bundle  Day  Committee  handled  many  requests  for  relief  and 
employment,  which  were  referred  to  suitable  agencies  for  proper  attention. 

The  tremendous  volume  of  the  work  required  in  handling  and  distributing 
over  two  million  articles  of  clothing,  although  systematized  as  well  as  could 
be  done  in  so  short  a  time,  resulted  in  a  certain  amount  of  unavoidable 
dissatisfaction  which  the  committee  made  every  effort  to  remedy. 

The  committee  received  and  disbursed  $15,526.48.  No  salaries  were 
paid  except  to  the  unemployed. 

Distribution  of  Food  by  Hotels 

Through  negotiations  undertaken  by  Hon.  George  A.  McAneny, 
President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen,  proprietors  of  the  leading  hotels  and 
restaurants  distributed  food  for  noon-day  meals  served  at  the  following 
emergency  workrooms: 

Christ  Church  House,  344  West  36th  Street. 

Bundle  Day  Committee's  Headquarters,  210  Fifth  Avenue. 

Working  Place  of  the  Bundle  Day  Committee,  44  East  14th  Street. 

Parish  House  of  St.  Thomas  Church,  229  East  59th  Street. 

Committee  on  Immigrants,  130  Broad  Street. 

The  West  Side  League,  404  West  37th  Street. 

St.  Bethany's  Church,  Tenth  Avenue  and  36th  Street. 

John  Hall  Memorial  Chapel,  344  East  63d  Street. 

The  Children's  Aid  Society,  552  West  53d  Street. 

Diocesan  House,  416  Lafayette  Street. 

Salvation  Army  Relief  Department,  127  West  23d  Street. 

National  League  on  Urban  Conditions  Among  Negroes,  127  West  135th  Street. 

A  sufficient  supply  was  given  to  heads  of  families  in  need  to  provide  a  meal 
for  those  at  home. 

A  committee  of  five  hotel  and  restaurant  proprietors  made  the  necessary 
arrangements  with  the  respective  hotels  and  restaurants. 

Fifty-one  hotels  and  restaurants  and  three  downtown  clubs  joined  in  supplying 
the  food  which  consisted  mainly  of  thick  vegetable  soup  and  bread. 

Distribution  by  automobile  trucks  loaned  by  the  department  of  public  charities 
and  R.  H.  Macy  &  Co.,  was  made  daily  from  February  to  May  first. 

33 


Care  of  Homeless  Men 

Increased  Facilities  at  the  Municipal  Lodging  House* 

Early  in  the  winter  the  commissioner  of  the  department  of  public 
charities  took  steps  to  increase  the  capacity  of  the  Municipal  Lodging  House 
in  order  to  make  ample  provision  for  the  care  of  all  legitimate  applicants  for 
shelter.  The  facilities  of  the  Lodging  House  were  extended  to  a  capacity 
of  2,700  beds,  including  the  annex,  f  and  could  have  been  further  extended, 
if  necessary,  by  the  use  of  additional  space,  to  3,000.  The  department  had 
in  reserve,  outside  the  Lodging  House,  additional  accommodations  for  3,500 
persons,  by  the  use  of  which  the  City  could  care  for  6,500  lodgers.  Through 
the  industrial  department  it  was  made  possible  for  men  to  remain  in  the 
Lodging  House  seven  nights  in  each  month.  In  addition,  the  Farm  Colony 
at  Staten  Island  was  made  available  for  500  men  willing  to  work  for  their 
keep  and  who  were  permitted  to  remain  an  additional  three  weeks  out  of  a 
month. 

At  no  time  during  the  winter  did  the  Lodging  House  reach  its  capacity. 
The  demand  on  it  was  lessened  by  the  fact  that  the  Commissioner  of  Immi- 
gration opened  the  waiting  rooms  at  Ellis  Island  for  night  lodging  for  some 
weeks,  accommodating  several  hundred  men  thereby.  The  average  number 
of  men  cared  for  at  the  Lodging  House,  the  average  length  of  stay,  and  the 
percentage  of  non-residents  among  the  lodgers,  is  summed  up  in  a  report 
of  the  Acting  Superintendent  as  follows: 

Daily  Average  Census  by  Months}: 

1913-1914  1914-1915 

October 445  616 

November 700  814 

December 1,121  1,201 

January 1,613  2,096 

February 1,672  1,738 

March 1,733  1,659 

April 1,491  1,237 

May 851  1,003 

June 507  671 

July 486  506 

August 467  458 

September 558  437 

t  These  figures  do  not  include  employees. 

"The  average  length  of  stay  for  the  last  three  months  of  1914  was  3^  days; 
for  the  first  three  months  of  1915,  4J  days,  and  the  second  three  months,  3|  days — 
this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  we  are  permitting  men  to  remain  on  the  basis  of  one 
week  a  month,  extending  the  time  of  those  found  on  examination  to  require  it,  but 


*  See  also,  "The  Men  We  Lodge,"  report  of  Advisory  Social  Service  Committee  of  Municipal  Lodging 
House  to  Commissioner  of  Public  Charities,  September,  1915,  published  since  this  section  of  the  report  was 
written,  and  dealing  mainly  with  an  earlier  period. 

t  2,264  persons,  including  employees,  can  be  accommodated  in  beds.  The  larger  capacity  is  possible 
by  the  use  of  army  cots. 

34 


on  the  other  hand,  curtailing  the  time  of  those  found  not  to  be  proper  charges  upon 
the  city.  The  annual  report  for  1914  shows  approximately  20  per  cent,  of  the  appli- 
cants to  be  non-residents  of  the  State  and  to  have  been  less  than  60  days  in  the  city. 
About  10  per  cent,  more  have  been  in  the  city  from  two  months  to  a  year.  This 
leaves  about  70  per  cent,  natives  and  legal  residents.  These  percentages  did  not 
greatly  vary  throughout  the  winter." 

Placement  Work  at  the  Lodging  House 

The  Mayor's  Committee  supplemented  the  work  of  the  regular  staff 
and  occasional  volunteer  service  at  the  Lodging  House  by  engaging  an 
experienced  employment  clerk  for  four  months,  from  March  1st  to  June  30th, 
1915,  to  endeavor  to  secure  employment  for  as  many  lodging  house  men  as 
possible.  This  service  was  made  possible  by  the  contributions  of  two  inter- 
ested individuals,  no  City  funds  being  available.  The  work  was  placed 
under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Walter  L.  Sears,*  superintendent  of  the  Public 
Employment  Bureau. 

Six  hundred  and  seven  men  were  registered  as  applicants  for  employment. 
Of  these,  484  were  citizens  (79  per  cent.),  Ill  aliens  (20  per  cent.),  12,  national- 
ity not  ascertained.  Forty-five  out  of  581  men  of  whom  the  question  was 
asked,  said  they  had  no  one  dependent  upon  them  for  support.  Sixty  per 
cent,  of  the  607  claimed  to  be  unemployed  because  of  "lack  of  work."  Sixteen 
per  cent,  said  they  had  left  their  employment  to  "better  themselves,"  but 
had  been  unable  to  secure  any  employment  at  all.  Nine  per  cent,  admitted 
having  been  discharged,  some  because  of  their  own  fault.  These  statements 
are,  of  course,  unverified.     Many  were  evidently  casual  laborers. 

Twenty  men  out  of  about  100  referred  by  the  placement  clerk  to  the 
Public  Employment  Bureaut  for  reference  to  specific  employment  oppor- 
tunities were  placed  in  jobs.  Few  of  the  men  were  in  condition  to  make  a 
good  impression  on  a  prospective  employer.  Lack  of  good  clothing  was  the 
greatest  drawback.  Men  who  apply  at  the  Municipal  Lodging  House  need 
work,  when  able  to  work,  but  they  need  an  opportunity  to  "brace  up" — 
good  food,  regular  sleep  in  a  clean  bed,  presentable  clothes,  often  medical 
attention,  and  a  chance  to  stand  on  their  "own  bottom",  if  neglect  and  irregu- 
larity of  living  have  not  sapped  character  and  stamina. 

Most  of  the  jobs  offered  from  outside  employers  were  offered  at  wages 
below  the  market  rate  for  regular  workers,  usually  from  $5  to  $12  a  month, 
with  maintenance.  Such  jobs,  when  filled,  were  held  for  about  a  month 
on  the  average.  Either  the  man  secured  better  paying  work,  if  competent, 
or  was  dismissed  because  of  inefficiency  or  intemperance,  a  natural  enough 
sequence  following  a  low  wage  standard.  The  men  were  the  natural  victims 
of  untoward  economic  conditions  and  were  often  under  compulsion  to  accept 
anytliing  that  offered  a  living,  however  meagre. 

The  placement  clerk  demurred  at  asking  men  to  accept  such  low  wages, 
and  endeavored  to  secure  higher  wages  wherever  possible.  He  believes, 
as  a  result  of  the  four  month's  experience,  that  "the  temptation  to  hire  men 


*  Deceased,  December  18,  1915. 
t49  Lafayette  Street. 


35 


who  are  'up  against  it'  below  the  prevailing  rate  of  wages,  is  one  that  should 
not  be  placed  before  employers,"  and  recommends  that  Lodging  House  men 
be  placed  through  the  regular  public  employment  bureau  rather  than  as 
coming  from  the  Lodging  House.* 

Four  hundred  and  fifty  men,  not  included  in  the  607  above  reported  on, 
secured  temporary  work  from  the  street  cleaning  department  as  snow 
shovelers  at  30  cents  an  hour.  Sixty-five  men  accepted  an  offer  of  one  of 
the  hospitals  to  pay  a  small  sum  for  blood  testing,  with  a  payment  of  $20 
if  selected  for  blood  transfusion. 

The  most  satisfactory  placement  work  was  the  placing  of  suitable 
applicants  as  hospital  helpers  in  institutions  of  the  department  of  public 
charities  at  from  $10  to  840  a  month  and  maintenance.  One  hundred  and 
fifteen  men  and  114  women  received  institutional  positions;  195  men  and 
231  women  were  placed  in  other  than  institutional  jobs,  524  in  all;  426  of 
these  were  placed  in  paid  positions,  98  unpaid,  i.  e.,  board  and  lodging  only. 
An  additional  136  are  believed  to  have  secured  jobs  to  which  they  were 
referred,  but  confirmation  is  lacking. 

Amendment  to  Law  Prohibiting  More  Than  Three  Days  Per  Month  in 
Municipal  Lodging  House 

An  amendment  was  secured  at  the  request  of  the  Mayor's  Committee 
repealing  the  three  days  per  month  limitation  on  the  length  of  time  during 
which  lodgers  may  be  cared  for  at  the  Municipal  Lodging  House. 

The  experience  of  the  winter  proved  that  an  arbitrary  three  days' 
limitation  on  the  length  of  stay  of  unemployed  men  in  the  Municipal  Lodging 
House  hampered  the  superintendent  in  the  development  of  the  most  helpful 
methods  of  providing  for  the  needs  of  the  men. 

As  previously  referred  to,  the  superintendent  of  the  Lodging  House, 
at  the  direction  of  the  commissioner  of  public  charities,  had  organized  em- 
ployment opportunities  so  that  the  men  could  be  kept  four  additional  nights, 
or  seven  nights  in  one  month  in  exchange  for  work.  The  removal  of  the  three 
days'  limitation  permits  the  commissioner  of  public  charities  to  develop  a 
policy  in  accordance  with  the  needs  of  the  men  and  the  resources  of  the  City. 

"Hotel  de  Gink" 

Early  in  the  winter  it  appeared  that  the  facilities  of  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House  might  not  be  adequate  to  accommodate  the  out-of-work 
men  unable  to  provide  for  themselves.  The  Mayor's  Committee  and  City 
officials  were  approached  by  Mr.  Jeff  Davis,  an  officer  of  the  Migratory 
Workers'  Union,  who  proposed  that  the  City  provide  a  building  which  might 
be  used  for  lodging  purposes  and  as  headquarters  for  the  unemployed  of  the 
type  described  by  Davis  as  men  unable  to  secure  work  in  their  accustomed 
callings,  but  willing  to  work,  and  reluctant  to  accept  charity.     Davis's  plan 


*  It  was  in  recognition  of  this  principle  that  the  work  in  the  Lodging  House  was  placed  by  the  Mayor't 
Committee,  under  the  Public  Employment  Bureau. 

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was  that  the  lodgers  would  put  the  building  in  shape  for  living  purposes, 
maintain  order,  provide  their  own  food  and  maintenance,  and  care  for 
themselves  in  every  way.  From  the  vantage  point  of  their  own  self-governing 
lodging  house  and  headquarters,  the  men  would  solicit  odd  jobs  of  every 
kind  to  provide  for  their  food  supply  until  the  regular  spring  work  opened  up. 

Similar  experiments  to  that  proposed  by  Mr.  Davis  had  been  tried 
with  considerable  success  in  Seattle  and  Tacoma,  Washington,  and  Portland, 
Oregon.  Ex-Mayor  Seymour  of  Tacoma  attended  a  meeting  of  the 
Committee  and  testified  that  the  self-governing  lodging  house  conducted 
by  Davis  and  his  associates  in  Tacoma  while  he  was  Mayor,  proved  to  be  of 
great  value  to  the  men  and  to  the  City.  The  Committee  and  the  City 
officials  approved  of  the  experiment  being  made,  though  not  without 
misgivings. 

The  "Hotel  de  Gink"  was  opened  from  January  11th  to  April  1st  in  a 
building  which  had  been  taken  by  the  City  for  the  new  court  house  site  at 
the  corner  of  Centre  and  Worth  Streets.  This  building  was  in  a  most 
dilapidated  condition,  but  was  made  habitable  by  the  men,  who  resorted 
to  many  most  ingenious  expedients  in  making  the  most  of  their  meagre 
resources  and  equipment.  The  men  planned  to  sleep  on  the  floors.  Blankets 
were  loaned  by  the  department  of  public  charities  and  the  Rev.  Ernest  M. 
Stires.  A  kitchen  range  and  cooking  utensils  were  secured.  Certain  of 
the  large  hotels  donated  dishes.  The  necessary  work  for  the  maintenance 
and  upkeep  of  the  building,  the  cooking  and  serving  of  meals  and  other 
duties  was  apportioned  among  the  men. 

During  the  winter  an  average  of  from  80  to  150  men  made  the  hotel 
their  headquarters.  A  committee  of  the  men  themselves  passed  on  the 
eligibility  of  applicants.  The  men  were  able  to  maintain  themselves  with 
but  little  outside  assistance  in  the  way  of  voluntary  contributions.  The 
burden  of  providing  for  the  group  fell,  however,  on  a  comparatively  small 
number  of  willing  workers.  When  the  subway  contractors  were  in  need  of 
men,  owing  to  the  repeal  of  the  alien  labor  law,  practically  all  of  the  able- 
bodied  men  then  living  in  the  hotel  applied  for  work. 

Whether  a  self-governing  lodging  house  for  the  accommodation  of  men 
out  of  work  and  without  means,  is  a  practical  thing  in  New  York  City,  can 
neither  be  proven  nor  disproven  by  this  experiment.  Such  an  experiment 
can  be  made  with  conclusive  results  only  when  conditions  are  more  favorable 
than  they  were  last  winter. 


Securing  Regular  Employment 

Public  Employment  Bureaus — City  and  State 

In  November,  1914,  the  City  opened  a  Municipal  Employment  Bureau 
at  the  corner  of  Lafayette  and  Leonard  Streets,  with  Mr.  Walter  L.  Sears 
as  Superintendent.  Mr.  Sears,  for  the  preceding  eight  years,  had  been  in 
charge  of  the  Massachusetts  Free  Employment  Bureaus. 

37 


On  January  4th,  1915,  the  State  Bureau  of  Employment  of  the 
Department  of  Labor  (now  the  Industrial  Commission)  opened  a  Brooklyn 
branch  at  262  Fulton  Street,  under  the  general  direction  of  Mr.  Charles  B. 
Barnes. 

Both  of  these  bureaus  are  well  organized  with  competent  staffs,  and  are 
gaining  in  favor  with  the  employing  and  employed  public.  Each  month 
of  their  operation  now  shows  an  increasing  percentage  of  jobs  filled. 

The  superintendent  of  the  Municipal  Bureau  has  succeeded  in  establish- 
ing three  branches  through  private  funds,  one  at  540  East  76th  Street, 
Manhattan,  opened  June  19th,  1915,  another  at  Greenpoint  House,  Green- 
point,  Brooklyn,  opened  Tsptember  13th,  1915,  and  the  third  through  the 
taking  over,  about  the  first  of  the  year  1916,  of  the  bureau  for  day  workers, 
theretofore  maintained  at  436  West  27th  Street  by  the  Hudson  Guild. 

From  the  date  of  opening  to  January  1st,  1916,  the  Municipal  and 
State  bureaus,  have  together  filled  12,306  jobs  (6,454  by  the  Municipal 
bureau  and  5,852  by  the  State  bureau).  During  that  period  the  bureaus 
have  registered  for  employment  66,043  persons  (42,846  by  the  Municipal 
bureau  and  23,197  by  the  State  bureau).  Employers  have  called  for  19,494 
persons  (9,242  from  the  Municipal  bureau,  10,252  from  the  State  bureau) 
of  whom  the  number  given  above  (12,306)  are  known  to  have  been  definitely 
employed. 

An  appropriation  of  $800  was  made  by  the  Mayor's  Committee  to  assist 
the  Municipal  Bureau  in  its  advertising  and  publicity  work.  Of  this  amount 
$700  was  a  special  gift  for  newspaper  advertising  of  the  availability  of  the 
employment  bureau.*  The  remaining  $100  was  expended  for  the  purchase 
and  distribution  of  special  display  signs  advertising  the  bureau. 

Appeals  to  Private  Employers 

The  Committee  on  Immediate  Employment  Opportunities  endeavored 
to  enlist  the  co-operation  of  organizations  of  employers  for  the  purpose  of 
doing  what  might  be  possible  to  stimulate  employment  or  mitigate  unem- 
ployment. 

Part  Time  Movement 

In  addition  to  general  appeals  sent  out  by  the  executive  committee 
of  the  Mayor's  Committee  addressed  to  employers  and  distributed  by  the 
Merchants'  Association,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  and  other  organizations, 
the  co-operation  of  the  Building  Trades  Employers'  Association  was  secured. 
The  general  secretary  addressed  a  meeting  attended  by  450  members  of 
this  Association,  urging  them  at  this  time  to  patronize  to  the  greatest  practical 
extent  local  manufacturers  and  shops  for  the  purchase  of  building  materials; 
to  distribute  among  the  largest  number  of  individuals  practicable  the  work 
then  available,  by  working  them  in  shifts  or  in  alternate  weeks,  rather  than 


♦The  City  Charter  prohibits  the  expenditure  of  money  for  advertising  the  Public  Employment  Bureaus 
in  the  newspapers. 


38 


permitting  some  men  to  be  wholly  unemployed;  to  give  preference  of  employ- 
ment to  married  men  when  it  became  necessary  to  lay  off  men.  An  immediate 
effect  of  this  appeal  was  that  the  Building  Trades  Employers'  Association 
members  reported  about  four  weeks  later  that  they  were  then  employing 
2,400  more  men  under  this  arrangement  than  previously. 

In  the  brewing  industry  a  similar  arrangement  was  effected  through  an 
agreement  between  the  employers  and  the  brewery  workers  upon  a  policy 
of  short  time  work. 

In  the  allied  printing  trades  many  of  the  unions  arranged  that  their 
members  would  lay  off  a  day  each  week  so  as  to  permit  out-of-work  members 
to  secure  some  employment. 

Neighborhood  Employment  Through  the  Police 

Among  the  helpful  agencies  called  forth  by  the  winter's  distress  the 
work  of  the  police  department  committee  on  distress  and  unemployment 
deserves  special  mention.  A  fund  of  S882.10  was  disbursed  for  emergency 
relief.  Police  co-operation  with  the  organized  relief  and  social  agencies 
was  excellent.  The  most  unique  service  performed  by  the  police  was 
an  organized  effort  originating  within  the  department  to  secure  work  for 
the  unemployed.  The  following  is  taken  from  the  report  of  the  police 
committee  :* 

"Supplementing  the  work  of  other  agencies  and  of  the  Municipal  Employment 
Bureau,  the  Police  Department  found  jobs  for  2,811  men  and  women  in  103  different 
occupations.  It  is  believed  that  only  11  per  cent,  of  these  jobs  were  temporary, 
and  that  89  per  cent,  would  give  regular  occupation  if  the  men  and  women  proved 
capable  and  faithful. 

"Of  the  2,811  positions  obtained  by  the  Police  Department,  263  were  temporary 
positions  for  men  who  were  employed  by  the  residents  of  various  blocks  to  keep 
the  sidewalks  and  areaways  clean.  A  policeman  in  each  district  interviewed  the 
storekeepers  and  residents  on  a  given  street,  and  obtained  contributions  of  ten  cents 
a  week  for  the  extra  cleaning  work  to  be  done.  When  enough  people  were  interested, 
a  list  of  the  co-operating  citizens  was  made  up  and  an  unemployed  man  assigned 
to  that  block. 

"The  necessary  brooms  and  shovels  were  obtained  from  the  Hebrew  Shelter- 
ing and  Immigrant  Aid  Society  of  America,  the  New  York  Association  for 
Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  the  Charity  Organization  Society,  the  Brook- 
lyn Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  and  the  Brooklyn 
Bureau  of  Charities.  At  the  end  of  each  week  the  cleaner  collected  his  money 
from  the  contributions,  making  between  $10  and  $12  per  week. 

"The  requirements  that  a  man  had  to  meet  to  obtain  one  of  these  positions 
were: 

1  That  he  be  a  resident  of  New  York  City 

2  That  he  be  in  real  need 

3  That  he  have  a  family  to  support 

"This  plan  was  put  into  operation  throughout  the  city,  but  the  most  satisfac- 
tory results  were  obtained  in  Manhattan  and  Brooklyn,  and  especially  in  the  First 
Inspection  District,  located  south  of  Fourteenth  Street,  east  of  Broadway  and 
the  Bowery. 


*  Report  of  Police  Department  Committee  on  Distress  and  Unemployment,  Supplement  to  Police 
Bulletin,  September,  1915. 

39 


"In  this  District  128  men  were  given  temporary  positions  paying  from  $10  to 
$12  per  week.  Although  a  large  number  of  these  men  have  now  obtained  perma- 
nent positions,  there  are  still  more  than  100  of  them  making  a  comfortable  living 
for  themselves  and  their  families  in  this  way." 

The  police  committee  assumed  charge  of  the  collection  and  distribution 
of  "Bundle  Day"  clothing  after  the  Bundle  Day  Committee  had  finished 
the  major  Iportion  of  the  work,  distributing  1,278  bundles  with  care  and 
discretion.  Inspectors  Dillon,  O'Brien,  Dwyer,  Cohen  and  Cahalane,  with 
Leroy  Peterson  as  secretary,  acted  as  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  police 
work. 

Federating  the  Non-Commercial  Employment  Bureaus  for  Better 

Co-operation 

On  the  initiative  of  the  Mayor's  Committee,  representatives  of  the 
public  and  private  non-commercial  employment  bureaus  have  been  brought 
together  into  a  federation  of  which  the  Director  of  the  Mayor's  Committee 
is  chairman.  A  constitution  and  plan  of  organization  were  adopted  and 
funds  raised  to  conduct  an  investigation  of  the  work  of  the  private  non- 
commercial employment  agencies.  On  the  basis  of  this  study  (which 
has  been  completed)  conferences  were  arranged  between  bureaus  dealing 
with  similar  classes  of  applicants,  to  work  out  a  co-operative  program  for 
the  correlation  of  the  work  of  the  private  and  public  employment  agencies — 
preventing  duplication  and  overlapping — and  for  securing  the  adoption  of 
standards  recommended  as  a  result  of  the  study. 

The  private  bureaus  interested  in  this  federation  are  now  and  have  been 
co-operating  with  the  trade  extension  classes  conducted  by  the  Julia  Richman 
High  School  and  the  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  for  Girls,  referred  to 
heretofore.*  A  program  for  the  more  extensive  development  of  methods 
and  means  of  training  the  unemployed  (Appendix  II)  is  receiving  the  cordial 
support  of  these  bureaus. 


Business  Organizing  to  Study  Its  Employment  Problems 

A  significant  development  of  the  season's  effort  was  the  coming  together 
at  the  invitation  of  the  Mayor's  Committee,  of  a  group  of  executives 
responsible  for  the  employment  policies  of  some  of  the  largest  business  and 
industrial  establishments  of  the  City.  These  men  met  to  talk  over  their 
relation  to  problems  of  management  in  industry  as  they  affect  the  securing, 
training  and  maintaining  of  a  regular  labor  force. 

"The  Society  for  the  Study  of  Employment  Problems"  was  organized 
to  study  the  best  methods  of  engaging  help,  of  training  and  developing 
workmen  after  they  had  been  hired,  of  cutting  down  the  tremendous  "turn- 
over"! (or  flow  in  and  out  of  given  establishments)  of  often  as  many  or 

*  See  "Training  Classes  for  Unemployed  Girls,"  p.  30.  The  public  bureaus  are  now  participating  in 
this  plan. 

t  See  "Labor-shift  or  Turn-over,"  p.  54. 

40 


more  persons  in  a  year  as  are  employed  on  the  average,  and  of  developing 
a  rational,  humanized  employment  policy  which  would  result  in  greater 
regularity  and  permanency  of  employment. 

Co-operation  of  Churches,  Civic  and  Philanthropic  Organizations 
Inter-Church  Unemployment  Committee 

The  churches  of  all  denominations  joined  in  an  Inter-Church  Unemploy- 
ment Committee  under  the  leadership  of  an  active  group  of  church  leaders, 
co-operating  closely  with  and  being  represented  on  the  Mayor's  Committee. 
Rev.  Charles  Stelzle,  the  secretary  of  the  Inter-Church  Committee  was 
director  of  relief  and  emergency  measures  of  the  Mayor's  Committee  for 
the  three  months  of  most  acute  distress,  his  services  being  contributed  to 
the  general  committee  work  by  the  Inter-Church  Committee. 

An  active  publicity  campaign  designed  to  interest  the  membership 
and  enlist  the  working  organizations  of  the  churches  in  the  relief  of  the 
unemployed  was  carried  on  by  the  committee.  A  public  meeting  presided 
over  by  the  Mayor,  at  which  Ex-President  Roosevelt  was  the  principal 
speaker,  was  held  in  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House.  $20,244.30,  $16,727.30 
of  which  was  received  and  pledged  in  a  special  offering  at  that  meeting,  was 
devoted  to  relief  work  by  the  committee.*  Sunday,  January  31,  1915,  was 
observed  as  "Unemployment  Sunday,"  the  clergy  generally  preaching  on 
unemployment  at  one  of  the  regular  services  on  that  day. 

A  score  of  churches  conducted  emergency  workshops,  both  independ- 
ently and  in  conjunction  with  the  Mayor's  Committee.  A  "Be  a  Good 
Neighbor  Movement"  was  featured  as  one  of  the  activities  of  the  committee. 
Church  members  were  asked  to  "give  a  day's  work,"  "find  jobs  about  the 
house,"  seek  out  "repair  work  in  the  churches,"  "find  jobs  for  men  in  the 
neighborhood  as  a  religious  duty,"  and  co-operate  with  every  established 
relief  and  welfare  agency. 

General  Community  Co-operation 

Through  the  Committee  on  Relief  Needs  and  Measures,  and  of  then- 
own  volition,  many  organizations  contributed  to  the  relief  work  of  the  winter. 
The  larger  relief  organizations,  the  settlements,  missions,  fraternal  organiza- 
tions, school  teachers  and  trade  unions  contributed  their  share,  each  according 
to  the  demands  upon  it  and  its  resources.  Owing  to  physical  limitations 
it  was  possible  for  the  Mayor's  Committee  to  keep  in  touch  with  only  a  part 
of  what  was  being  done  throughout  a  city  so  extensive  in  area  and  with 
so  large  a  population  as  New  York.  The  spirit  of  co-operation  and  helpful- 
ness was  everywhere  manifest.  Not  the  least  to  be  commended  was  the 
neighborly  assistance  of  the  working  people  to  the  needy  among  them. 
Without  the  liberal  assistance  given  by  the  trade  unions  to  their  out-of-work 
members,  the  actual  suffering  would  have  been  much  more  acute  than  it  was. 


*  This  sum  is  by  no  means  the  total  expenditures  of  the  churches,  but  refers  merely  to  the  amount 
expended  by  the  Inter-Church  Committee. 

41 


Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment — 1915 

Financial  Statement  as  of  December  31,  1915 

I.     Relief  Fund 

H.  P.  Davison,  Treasurer 

Receipts 

By  contributions,  general $168,835.23 

Transferred  from  administrative  and  general  fund   (Fred'k 

Strauss,  Treas.) 549.21 

Balance  from  St.  Bartholomew's  workshop  fund 2,91S.91* 

Contributions,  E.  49th  St.  workshop 302 .  25* 

Sale  of  workshop  products 1,588 .  60* 

Interest  on  deposits  (sub-committee  on  men's  workshops) ....  31 .  16* 

Total  receipts $174,225.36 

Disbursements 

Workshops  (wages,  meals  and  supplies) : 

Men's  workshops $124,917 .  16f 

Women's  workshops 29,790 .  00 

Scholarships  for  unemployed  girls 6,000 .  00 

Public  Schools'  Relief  Committee 1,000.00 

Salvation  Army  (Col.  E.  J.  Parker) 250.00 

Public  Employment  Bureau: 

Advertising  Public  Employment  Bureau  facilities 603 .  50 

Clerk  at  Municipal  Lodging  House 315.00 

Appeal  for  funds 526 .  77 

Incidentals 23 .  50 

Return  of  contribution — Belgian  Am.  Unemployment  Relief 

Fund 500.00 

Transferred  to  administrative  and  general  fund 1,003. 13 

Total  disbursements $164,929.06 

Balance  on  hand  December  31,  1915 9,296.30 

Total $174,225.36 

*  Received  and  disbursed  by  committee  on  men's  workshops,  without  going  through  treasurer's  hands. 
Disbursements  included  in  financial  statement. 

t  Some  women  were  employed  in  two  workshops  included  herein.  These  disbursements  also  include 
J  I  '  02  expended  for  an  experimental  workshop  conducted  at  319  E.  49th  Street,  after  the  other  workshops 
had  closed.  216  different  men,  mostly  old  and  disabled,  were  employed  for  an  aggregate  of  9,591  days'  work. 
The  shop  was  operated  95  days,  with  an  average  attendance  of  101. 

42 


II.     Administrative  and  General  Fund* 
Frederick  Strauss,  Treasurer 

Receipts 

Contributions,  administrative  and  general  purposes $6,445.00 

Contributions,  relief  purposes 3,549.21 

Interest  on  balances 23 .  58 

Transferred  from  relief  fund  (H.  P.  Davison,  Treasurer),  for 

part  cost  of  preparation  of  reportf 1,003 .  13 

Total  receipts $11,020.92 

Disbursements 

Salaries,  executive  office $5,310.29 

Printing,  stationery  and  office  supplies 632.41 

Telephone,  telegrams,  messenger  service  and  postage 401 .  75 

Advertising  (appeals,  notices  and  signs  for  Public  Employment 

Bureau) 166.43 

Miscellaneous 67 .  41 

Hotel  de  Gink  (self-governing  lodging  house),  supervision,  light, 

heat  and  rent 893 .42 

Women's  workshops — wages 3,000 .  00 

Transferred  to  relief  fund  (H.  P.  Davison,  Treasurer) 549.21 

Total  disbursements $11,020.92 


III.     Combined  Statement 

Receipts 

Relief  purposes $177,225. 36J 

Administrative,  investigational  and  educational  purposes 8, 020. 92 § 

Total  receipts $185,246.28 

Disbursements 

Relief  purposes $167,929. 06|| 

Administrative,  investigational  and  educational  purposes 8,020.92a 

Total  disbursements $175,949 .  98 

Balance  on  hand,  December  31,  1915 9,296.30 

Total $185,246.28 

*  Funds  used  for  administrotive  and  general  purposes  were  specifically  contributed  for  such  purposes, 
t  The  cost  of  printing  this  report  was  met  by  a  special  contribution  of  $275.00  from  the  Chairman  of 
the  Committee,  and  is  not  shown  in  either  of  the  foregoing  statements. 

t  Includes  $549  21  transferred  from  administrative  and  general  fund. 
§  Includes  $1,003.13  transferred  from  relief  fund. 

||  Includes  $1,003.13  transferred  to  administrative  and  general  fund  and  $500.00  refund  of  contribution. 
a  Includes  $549.21  transferred  to  relief  fund. 

43 


PART  II 

PROGRAM  FOR  DEALING  WITH  UNEMPLOYMENT  IN 

NEW  YORK 

Section  1.     Prevention  of  Unemployment. 

A  program  for  dealing  adequately  with  unemployment  in  New  York 
must  place  its  strongest  emphasis  on  the  prevention  of  unemployment. 
After  employment  has  been  lost  it  is  obviously  more  difficult  to  prevent 
the  distress  that  follows.  This  discussion  of  a  proposed  program  for 
dealing  with  unemployment  in  New  York  concerns  itself  with  possible 
steps  having  a  direct  bearing  upon  unemployment,  which  may  be  taken 
now  and  in  the  immediate  future,  rather  than  with  ultimate  solutions. 

Classification  of  the  Unemployed 

In  the  public  mind  the  unemployed  are  likely  to  be  thought  of  in 
the  mass.  An  analysis  of  the  unemployed,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
their  usual  industrial  activity,  divides  them  into  four  main  classes. 
These  classes,  which  must  be  taken  into  account  in  devising  an  adequate 
program  for  dealing  with  unemployment,  may  be  defined  as : 

1  Those  who  have  recently  been  and  normally  are  in  long  time  jobs — who  have 

"steady  jobs,"  such  as  engineers,  railway  employees,  clerks  in  wholesale 
and  retail  trade,  etc. 

2  Those   who,    when    employed,    shift    from   job   to   job,   or    from    employer   to 

employer — the  seasonal  workers,  such  as  those  in  the  building  trades, 
contractor's  laborers,  and  in  similar  occupations. 

3  Those  whose  employment  is  from  day  to  day,  or  from  hour  to  hour,  who  do 

not  work  by  the  week,  but  are  subject  to  dismissal  on  a  moment's  notice — 
the  casual  laborers  such  as  workers  along  the  docks,  handy  men  and  odd- 
job  men  of  all  kinds. 

4  Those  who  are  unable  to  perform  regular  labor,  whether  because  of  sickness, 

old  age  or  some  physical  handicap,  and  those  who  have  drifted  into  becom- 
ing tramps  or  loafers,  "can't  works"  and  "won't-works," — the  so-called 
unemployables. 

The  line  of  demarcation  between  these  four  classes  of  the  unem- 
ployed is  by  no  means  clearly  defined.  Those  of  one  class  are  constantly 
shifting  up  or  down  in  accordance  with  the  general  state  of  employ- 
ment. This  classification,  though  approximate,  is  nevertheless  suffi- 
ciently accurate  to  afford  a  sound  basis  for  a  constructive  policy. 

A  constructive  policy  for  dealing  with  unemployment  to  be  fully  ef- 
fective, should  be  nation-wide.     A  sound  local  program,  however  well 

44 


worked  out,  depends  for  its  complete  success  upon  a  comprehensive 
policy  for  the  nation  as  a  whole.  In  general  outline  and  in  particular 
direction  a  program  for  New  York  City  must  coincide  in  fundamentals 
with  what  would  constitute  a  sound  program  for  the  United  States. 

Public  Employment  Exchanges 

The  first  and  most  important  need  for  preventing  unemployment 
among  those  usually  in  long  time  jobs —  class  "1" — is  the  proper  devel- 
opment of  efficient  machinery  for  making  known  the  needs  of  em- 
ployers in  all  parts  of  the  city  and  of  the  country  for  workers,  and  for 
bringing  such  employers  and  workers  together.  The  men  belonging  to 
this  class,  especially  if  they  have  long  served  and  adapted  themselves  to 
the  needs  of  a  particular  employer  in  an  occupation  not  standardized, 
are  at  a  more  serious  disadvantage  than  the  men  who,  through  irregular 
employment,  are  accustomed  to  apply  from  place  to  place.  The  public 
employment  bureaus  can  perform  an  even  more  important  service  for 
the  men  who  shift  from  job  to  job  and  from  employer  to  employer — those 
in  class  "2."  It  is  impossible,  especially  in  a  City  of  the  size  of  New 
York,  for  such  men  to  know  when  they  are  wanted  by  any  one  of  the 
thousands  of  employers  whose  demands  for  workers  are  constantly 
changing.  The  bureaus,  by  organizing  the  employment  market  so  as  to 
be  at  all  times  fully  informed  of  the  opportunities  for  employment  which 
may  be  open  to  these  seasonal  workers,  can  prevent  in  the  aggregate  a 
large  amount  of  unemployment  which  is  otherwise  inevitable. 

New  York  City,  through  its  public  employment  bureau,*  and  the 
State  of  New  York  through  bureaus  established  in  five  cities  of  the  State, 
including  Brooklyn,  have  made  good  beginnings  in  this  direction.  About 
sixty  public  employment  bureaus  have  been  established  in  twenty-one 
states,  in  addition  to  about  twenty  bureaus  which  have  been  opened  by 
municipalities,  including  New  York  State  and  City  Bureaus. 

Seasonal  Employment  and  the  Public  Employment  Bureau 

It  is  not  alone  in  the  few  well  recognized  "seasonal  trades"  that 
there  are  marked  fluctuations  in  the  number  of  workers  required  from 
time  to  time.  Nearly  all  trades  and  occupations,  as  industry  is  at  pres- 
ent organized,  have  their  seasons  of  full  and  slack  employment.  Workers 
are  being  taken  on  and  dismissed  in  considerable  numbers  in  different  in- 
dustries at  all  times  of  the  year,  regardless  of  the  changes  of  calendar 
seasons. f 

Along  with  the  specialization  of  industry  and  the  highly  specialized 
skill  required  for  the  performance  of  work  in  certain  industries,  it  must 
be    remembered    that    probably    more    than    two-thirds    of    the    working 


*  And  three  branches.     See  p.  38. 

t  See  "Fluctuations  in  Employment,"  p.  57. 


45 


population — those  for  whom  unemployment  is  the  greatest  menace — 
are  engaged  in  comparatively  unskilled  work.  So  far  as  these  are 
concerned,  unemployment  might  be  almost  wholly  prevented  were  it 
not  that  the  community  has  failed  to  organize  its  employment  market. 

Casual  Labor  and  the  Public  Employment  Bureau 

More  precarious  than  that  of  either  the  workman  in  long  time  jobs 
or  in  seasonal  employment,  is  the  employment  of  the  casual  laborer. 
It  is  this  class  (and  the  unemployable  into  which  they  easily  merge) 
which  looms  large  in  the  public  eye  in  seasons  of  unusual  disturbance 
of  trade.  To  the  public  at  large  employment  is  thought  of  as  insuring 
a  livelihood  if  the  hourly  or  daily  wages,  multiplied  by  the  number  of 
working  days  in  the  year,  equal  what  is  regarded  as  a  fair  wage.  The 
casual  laborer  is  rarely  unemployed,  in  the  sense  of  having  no  work,  and 
yet  never  employed  in  the  sense  of  being  able  to  depend  upon  any  certain 
amount  of  employment  or  income  with  any  degree  or  regularity.  He 
never  knows  from  day  to  day  whether  he  will  be  employed  or  unem- 
ployed. The  dangling  bait  of  a  possible  job,  often  at  a  reasonable 
enough  hourly  rate,  keeps  him  in  an  attitude  of  "watchful  waiting" 
with  the  chances  of  success  and  failure  shared  by  scores  of  his  fellows, 
each  as  uncertain  as  he  is.  It  is  the  presence  and  persistence  of  this 
group,  fostered  by  a  lack  of  system  of  organizing  the  scattered  and  mul- 
tifarious demands  of  many  individual  employers,  which  render  futile  all 
attempts  permanently  to  improve  employment  conditions  by  creating 
relief  works,  emergency  employment  schemes,  and  tide-over  wage 
plans,  however  necessary  such  undertakings  may  be  when  no  adequate 
preventive  measures  have  previously  been  employed. 

The  constant  existence  of  this  under-employed  group,  which  con- 
stitutes the  bulk  of  the  workers  in  certain  large  divisions  of  industry, 
such  as  have  been  so  thoroughly  described  in  the  English  studies  of 
dock  laborers,  goods  porters  and  the  like,  and  who  are  to  be  found  on 
the  fringe  of  nearly  every  industry  as  the  "spare  hands"  and  "busy 
season  men,"  is  the  central  fact  towards  which  a  community  program 
must  be  directed.*  This  class  of  labor  must  be  "decasualized"  by  proper 
organization,  through  public  employment  bureaus,  so  as  to  concentrate 
the  hiring  of  such  laborers  in  relatively  few  centers  to  which  all  em- 
ployers and  employees  in  the  industry  may  turn  for  employers  and 
employment. 

Organizing  the  Employment  Market 

The  real  function  of  the  public  employment  bureau  in  a  plan  for 
the  prevention  of  unemployment,  is  not  so  much  in  the  placing  of 
individual  out  of  work  applicants  in  employment  as  in  organizing  the 


*  See  "Fluctuations  in  Employment,"  p.  57. 

46 


employment  market  so  as  to  prevent,  as  far  as  possible,  seasonality  in 
industry  from  resulting  in  seasonal  unemployment,  so  far  as  any  consid- 
erable number  of  workers  is  concerned.  To  perform  properly  the  func- 
tion of  "dove-tailing"  employment  for  the  workers  in  various  seasonal 
trades,  the  public  employment  bureau  must  reach  out  into  the  surround- 
ing territory,  secure  the  co-operation  of  the  employing  public,  study  the 
peculiarities  and  needs  of  the  district  in  which  it  operates,  know  the 
times  and  the  seasons  when  men  are  being  taken  on  and  laid  off,  and 
be  informed  of  the  general  adaptability  of  the  workers  for  service  in  the 
various  industries  and  employments. 

The  public  employment  bureau  is  not  only  a  business  need.  It  is 
a  necessary  public  function.  As  the  public  school  organizes  for  the 
education  of  the  child  and  is  located  conveniently  to  the  homes  of  the 
children,  so  must  the  public  employment  bureau  organize  for  the  em- 
ployment of  the  parent,  and  be  located  conveniently  to  the  working 
places  of  the  fathers. 

In  New  York  the  two  public  bureaus,  one  at  Lafayette  and  Leon- 
ard Streets,  Manhattan,  the  other  at  262  Fulton  Street,  Brooklyn,  and 
in  lesser  degree  the  three  additional  experimental  branches  of  the  muni- 
cipal bureau,  supported  in  large  part  by  private  funds,  one  in  East 
76th  Street,  Manhattan,  another  in  West  27th  Street,  Manhattan,  and  the 
third  in  Greenpoint,  Brooklyn,  are  having  a  gratifying  measure  of  sup- 
port when  all  the  circumstances  are  taken  into  account.  The  managers 
of  the  bureaus  fully  appreciate  that  these  bureaus  are  only  in  the  infancy 
of  their  development. 

In  Appendix  I  appears  the  recommendations  of  a  committee  ap- 
pointed to  sum  up  the  results  of  a  conference  of  sixty  to  seventy  of  the 
best  informed  students  of  and  workers  in  the  public  employment  bureau 
movement.  This  conference  was  called  by  the  Mayor's  Committee  in 
conformance  with  its  policy  to  work  out  a  program  for  the  future 
through  conference  with  experts  and  practical  workers. 

As  suggested  by  the  program  proposed  and  the  experience  of  this 
and  other  countries,  certain  results  are  possible  and  should  be  worked 
for.     The  next  immediate  steps  necessary  are  the  following: 

1  More  support  from  employers. 

2  More  publicity  for  the  work  of  the  bureaus.     (A  joint  committee  representing 

State  and  Municipal  bureaus,  just  appointed,  is  working  out  methods  to 
accomplish  this  result.) 

3  Better  co-ordination  of  the  work  of  all  non-commercial  agencies.     (A  "Federa- 

tion of  Non-Commercial  Employment  Agencies"  has  been  organized  and 
will   effect  this  result.) 

4  Unified    development    of    the    work    of    City,     State    and    Federal    bureaus 

now  established.  (A  committee  appointed  by  the  United  States  Secretary 
of  Labor  is  working  to  effect  this  result  for  the  country  as  a  whole,  as 
well  as  locally.) 

The  following  desirable  steps  which,  however,  require  special  ef- 
fort and  funds,  should  be  taken : 

47 


1     Special  employment  centers  in  specialized  industries. 

1     Organizations     of     co-operative     schemes     (employers,     employees,     and     the 

bureau)  for  hiring  casual  laborers  at  a  few  centers,  rather  than  by  each 

employer,  as  at  present. 

3  Extension  of  branches  so  as  to  reach  all  parts  of  the  city. 

4  With  others,  urge  Congress  to  create  an  adequate  system  of  federal  employ- 

ment bureaus. 

Each  of  the  above  desirable  steps  requires  money  and  effort,  but 
the  importance  of  the  results  to  be  obtained  will  amply  repay  the  time 
and  expenditure.  The  bureaus  will,  on  the  present  basis,  need  the  back- 
ji}g-  of  private  funds  and  private  effort.  To  accomplish  the  extension  of 
employment  branches  larger  public  appropriations  are  needed.  These 
will  probably  follow  public  appreciation  of  the  work  of  the  bureaus. 


"Decasualizing"  Casual  Labor 

The  experiences  of  the  English  labor  exchanges  illustrate  what 
may  be  accomplished  in  the  development  of  schemes  to  organize  the 
employment  market,  though  by  no  means  has  a  full  demonstration  yet 
been  made.  The  practical  results  of  the  experiments  so  far  worked  out 
by  the  English  bureaus  for  the  "decasualization  of  casual  labor,"  warrant 
the  belief  that  New  York,  by  intelligent  organized  effort,  can  eliminate 
the  harassing  uncertainty  of  casual  labor.  To  accomplish  this  the  sup- 
port of  employers  and  employees  and  the  general  public  is  essential, 
principally  through  adequate  support  of  public  employment  bureaus. 

Employment  among  longshoremen,  for  example,  is  as  casual  in 
the  port  of  New  York  as  is  conceivable.  The  men  "shape"  or  form  out- 
side the  gates  of  the  piers  in  semi-circular  fashion,  three  times  a  day, 
at  7  a.  m.,  1  p.  m.  and  7  p.  m.  They  generally  do  not  know  whether 
they  will  be  employed  on  any  given  day,  nor  have  they  the  assurance, 
while  employed,  of  employment  beyond  the  hour  in  which  they  are 
working.  Some  steamship  companies  pay  off  each  day.  Some  give  pre- 
ference, in  an  informal  way,  to  "regular"  men  whom  they  hire  when  they 
have  work  for  them.  When  a  ship  is  to  be  loaded  or  unloaded,  men  often 
work  right  through  the  day  and  night  to  the  limit  of  physical  endur- 
ance. Naturally,  such  methods  of  hiring  and  working  led  to  many  men 
being  quite  content  to  accept  irregularity  as  the  normal  manner  of  work. 
But  the  more  thoughtful  men  realize  the  demoralizing  effect  of  the 
casual  nature  of  the  work.  A  steady  job  and  weekly  pay  is  a  compara- 
tively unknown  thing  in  this  employment.  The  methods  of  hiring  in 
vogue  are  survivals  of  a  scrambling  for  jobs  which  seem  incongruous 
in  connection  with  the  enormous  capacity,  the  marvelous  mechanical 
equipment,  and  the  increasing  speed  and  comfort  of  the  ocean  liner. 

The  English  successes  in  organizing  the  most  casual  employments 
point  the  way  to  hopeful  experiments  in  New  York. 

48 


Manchester  Cloth  Porters 

The  first  casual  labor  scheme  introduced  by  the  English  exchanges 
was  that  in  connection  with  the  Manchester  cloth  porters. 

In  the  warehouse  district  of  that  city  500  men  were  employed  load- 
ing and  unloading  bales  of  cotton,  by  about  100  firms  who  take  on  men 
each  week  and  400  or  500  others  who  require  a  man  or  two  occasionally. 
The  employment  was  extremely  irregular.  The  men  gathered  in  the 
streets  and  drinking  places,  waiting  for  work.  In  May,  1910,  the  exec- 
utive officer  in  charge  of  the  labor  exchanges  for  that  district  persuaded 
56  employers  to  engage  their  men  solely  from  a  special  labor  exchange 
established  in  the  center  of  the  warehouse  district  under  the  supervision 
of  an  expert  warehouseman.  "Preference  lists"  were  arranged  so  that 
individual  firms  might  have  the  men  they  preferred.  A  waiting  room 
with  a  cheap  temperance  restaurant  was  provided.  Wages  were  paid 
each  week  through  the  labor  exchange. 

In  the  early  part  of  1913,  112  employers  had  come  into  the  scheme. 
This  number  is  reported  to  have  increased  by  the  winter  of  1915,  and 
over  450  employers  are  now  said  to  be  using  the  exchange  each  week.* 
This  centralization  while  covering  a  small  number  of  men,  is  important 
because  of  the  extremely  large  number  of  employers  compared  with  the 
number  of  workers,  and  because  of  the  fact  that,  being  unorganized,  the 
men  had  sunk  to  the  lowest  possible  level  of  employment.  The  total 
number  of  separate  jobs  provided  in  each  month  averaged  5,475  in  1911 
and  5,160  in  1912.  The  number  of  days'  work,  per  month,  for  each  man 
for  whom  employment  was  found  at  all,  averaged  12  in  1910,  16^  in  1911, 
and  15  in  1912.f 

Liverpool  Docks  Scheme 

Following  the  dock  strike  in  Liverpool  in  1911.  and  after  a  long 
series  of  negotiations  with  employers  and  representatives  of  the  work- 
men, and  an  investigation  of  the  whole  question  of  the  relation  between 
the  supply  and  demand  of  labor  on  the  docks,  67  employers  of  shipmen, 
quaymen,  and  coalheavers,  agreed  upon  a  plan  of  employment  since 
known  as  the  "Liverpool  Docks  Scheme."  This  scheme  involved  the 
division  of  the  docks  into  six  districts  with  a  central  clearing  house  in 
each,  and  the  registration,  through  these  clearing  houses,  of  all  dockers 
who  had  been  employed  by  any  employer,  or  who  were  members  of  the 
union.  Each  registered  docker  received  a  brass  tally  without  which  he 
would  not  be  employed  by  any  employer.  In  each  district  "surplus 
stands"  (16  in  all)  were  provided  at  which  the  men  were  to  assemble 
if  they  had  not  been  hired  during  the  regular  time  of  hiring.  Through 
the  Board  of  Trade  (the  authority  in  charge  of  the  labor  exchanges) 
arrangements  were  worked  out  with  the  employers  by  which  the  men 
were  paid  either  directly  by  the  Board  or  by  the  employer,  through  the 

♦Frederic  Keeling,  "London  Economic  Journal,"  March,  1915. 
t  Ibid. 

49 


offices  of  the  Board  at  the  clearing  house  for  the  district  in  which  they 
were  registered.  The  men  were  thus  enabled  to  secure  their  pay  at 
one  time  and  in  one  place  regardless  of  the  number  of  employers  for 
whom  they  had  worked  during  the  period.* 

Approximately  30,000  men  were  registered  and  working  under  the 
scheme. f  The  first  year's  experiment  increased  the  percentage  of 
men  who  had  worked  from  40  to  52  weeks,  though  not  each  day  of  each 
week,  to  nearly  45  per  cent.  28  per  cent,  worked  48  weeks  and  over. 
In  evaluating  this  plan  of  organizing  the  casual  labor  market  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind  that  what  has  been  accomplished  in  the  first  year  is  so 
much  clear  gain  over  what  was  an  inchaote,  disorganized  and  extremely 
uncertain  employment.  It  marked  the  beginning  of  an  intelligent  effort 
to  organize  into  an  industry  and  a  means  of  livelihood  what  had  been 
well  characterized  as  a  gigantic  system  of  outdoor  relief. 

A  study  of  this  interesting  and  valuable  experiment,  as  described  in 
"The  First  Year's  Working  of  the  Liverpool  Docks  Scheme,"  by  R. 
Williams  (Divisional  Officer  for  the  Northwestern  Division  of  the  Labor 
Exchanges  and  Unemployment  Insurance),  illustrates  the  extreme  diffi- 
culty, as  well  as  the  necessity,  of  decasualizing  an  occupation  in  which 
the  workers  and  employers  have  both  become  habituated  to  irregular 
employment,  especially  when  such  employment  has  been  accompanied 
by  a  relatively  high  hourly  rate  of  wages. 

An  earlier  experiment,  made  prior  to  the  establishment  of  labor 
exchanges,  was  that  of  the  London  and  India  docks,  London,  which  re- 
sulted in  increasing  the  percentage  of  regularity  in  the  employment  of 
dock  labor  from  16  per  cent,  in  1887  to  80  per  cent  during  the  succeeding 
15  years4 

Other  Dock  Schemes 

At  Goole,  in  July,  1912,  a  central  employment  scheme  was  arranged 
embracing  about  1,000  men  and  5  employers.  Wages  were  paid  through 
the  offices  of  the  labor  exchange  here  as  at  Liverpool. 

At  Cardiff  and  Swansea  the  Board  of  Trade  through  the  labor  ex- 
changes has  inaugurated  schemes  dealing  with  ship  repairers,  affecting 
about  8,000  men  and  33  employers. 

At  Devonport  and  Portsmouth  arrangements  were  made  in  1915  to 
organize  the  casual  labor  of  the  men  engaged  in  coaling  warships. 

At  Sunderland,  dock  laborers  to  the  number  of  1,000  are  employed 
through  the  labor  exchange.  The  scheme  does  not  involve  the  payment 
of  wages  through  the  exchange. 


*  The  general  management  and  oversight  of  the  scheme  is  in  the  hands  of  a  joint  committee  of  employe™ 
and  employees,  with  the  officer  of  the  labor  exchange  as  secretary.  All  questions  of  policy  are  referred  to 
this  committee  for  decision. 

t  Union  records  show  the  membership  of  the  union  to  have  been  27,200  in  July,  1912.  when  the  first 
registration  was  taken. 

J  Bcveridge,  "Unemployment,"  p.  89. 

60 


Organised  Schemes  Dealing  With  Seasonal  Workers  in  England 

LIVERPOOL  COTTON  WAREHOUSEMEN:  In  July,  1910,  ar- 
rangements were  made  by  which  from  250  to  300  employers  agreed  to 
engage  their  warehousemen  through  a  special  labor  exchange  in  the 
warehouse  quarter  of  the  city.  The  number  of  workers  varied  during 
the  season  from  1,200  to  4,000. 

FRUIT  AND  HOP  GROWING  INDUSTRIES:  Efforts  have 
been  made  with  some  success  to  organize  seasonal  labor,  largely  female,  in  the 
fruit  and  hop  growing  districts  of  Blairgowrie,  Maidstone  and  Worcester. 
3,354  vacancies  were  filled  during  the  first  summer  season  through  a  special 
office  opened  in  one  of  these  towns. 

BUILDING  TRADES— LEICESTER:  Practically  all  of  the  em- 
ployers in  the  building  trades  have  made  an  agreement  to  engage  all 
their  workers  through  the  labor  exchange.  Approximately  2,000  men  are 
covered  in  this  arrangement. 

The  English  labor  exchanges  are  much  assisted  in  organizing 
schemes  affecting  casual  and  seasonal  employment  by  the  operations  of 
the  unemployment  insurance  sections  of  the  National  Insurance  Act. 
Section  99  of  that  act  provides  that  employers  may  make  arrangements 
through  the  labor  exchanges  so  that  these  exchanges  may  perform  for 
them  the  duties  imposed  by  this  act  in  the  collection  and  stamping  of 
employees'  insurance  books.  The  act  further  provides  that  the  employ- 
ment of  different  individuals  during  a  given  week,  if  made  through  the 
labor  exchange,  may  be  considered  for  the  purposes  of  employers'  con- 
tributions as  the  continuous  employment  of  a  single  workman,  regardless 
of  the  number  of  different  individuals  employed  during  any  such  week. 
Similar  concessions  are  made  to  the  workmen  registering  at  the  labor 
exchange. 

Regularizing  the   Demand  for   Labor 

The  two  characteristic  features  of  industry  which  a  program  for  the 
prevention  of  unemployment  must  take  into  account  are  the  fluctuations 
in  industrial  activity  due  to  periodic  depressions,  and  those  occurring  in 
normal  times  due  to  changes  in  the  seasons,  the  caprices  of  fashion,  the 
introduction  of  new  processes,  and  from  other  well  known  causes.  These 
fluctuations  have  been  designated  as  cyclical,  seasonal  and  casual.  The 
first  recur  at  periodic  intervals  of  years,  the  second  occur  with  some 
regularity  within  the  year  in  the  separate  trades  affected,  while  the  third 
involve  fluctuations  from  day  to  day  in  certain  industrial  groups.  The 
public  employment  bureau,  as  previously  pointed  out,  can  deal  with  the 
effects  of  these  fluctuations,  and  in  some  measure  prevent  or  minimize 
the  amount  of  unemployment  which  would  otherwise  result.  But  when 
the  total  volume  of  business  falls  below  a  certain  minimum,  as  during 
the  winter  of  1914-1915,  the  public  employment  bureaus  are  helpless  to 
fill  the  gap. 

51 


Planning  Public  Expenditures  to  Take  up  the  Slack 

No  complete  figures  are  available  showing  the  difference  between 
the  total  number  of  the  employed  and  the  wages  earned  in  slack  years  as 
compared  with  years  of  active  trade.  For  that  reason  we  are  unable  to 
gauge  the  difference,  in  percentage,  between  the  total  amount  of  employ- 
ment and  earnings  in  normal  and  abnormal  years.  Estimates  have 
been  made  that  a  decrease  of  from  8  per  cent,  to  10  per  cent,  in  the  new 
construction  work  of  the  country  is  reflected  in  a  marked  depression  in 
general  business  and  consequently  in  employment. 

To  offset  this  decrease  in  times  of  depression,  in  the  average  of 
normal  business,  some  added  stimulus  to  employment  must  be  given  if 
the  recurring  serious  unemployment,  due  to  this  cause,  is  to  be  combatted. 
Evidently  private  industry  cannot  supply  this  stimulus.  It  must  come 
from  the  organized  community  through  its  governmental  activities. 

Public  expenditures  may  be  planned,  it  is  urged,  where  possible, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  employment  needs  without  sacrificing  anything 
of  the  real  purpose  and  intent  for  which  the  expenditures  are  to  be  made. 
It  is  suggested  that  the  city,  state  and  national  governments  so 
plan  their  expenditures  as  to  tend  to  neutralize  and  in  some  degree  to 
overcome  the  decreased  demands  of  private  employers  for  workmen. 
The  English  statistician  Bowley  estimated  that  if,  during  the  decade 
preceding  his  testimony  before  the  British  Poor  Law  Commission,*  be- 
tween three  and  four  per  cent,  of  the  annual  appropriation  for  public 
Avorks  and  services  (or  about  an  average  of  $20,000,000  yearly)  had  been 
set  aside  in  normal  years  and  expended  in  times  of  depression,  this 
amount  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have  offset  the  wage  loss  due,  dur- 
ing the  decade,  to  commercial  depression. 

This  principle  has  been  applied  in  Great  Britain  by  the  Develop- 
ment Commission,  (Development  and  Road  Funds  Act,  Great  Britain, 
1909,)  which  recommends  to  the  Treasury  allowances  by  grant  or  loan 
for  undertakings  by  government  departments,  or  through  such  depart- 
ments to  public  authorities  and  educational  institutions,  of  the  develop- 
ment of  agricultural,  forestry,  fisheries  and  other  rural  interests.  Under 
the  Road  Funds  Act,  and  through  the  Road  Fund  Board  (a  subordinate 
activity  of  the  Development  Commission)  advances  are  made  to  county 
councils  and  other  highway  authorities  for  the  construction  and  im- 
provement of  roads.  The  commissioners  at  the  outset  decided  upon  a 
comprehensive  plan  of  development.  In  their  report  for  the  year  ending 
March  31st,  1913,  the  commissioners  stated  that  they  "Consider  that 
any  detailed  scheme  .  .  .  should  provide,  with  due  regard  to  econ- 
omy and  efficiency,  for  varying  the  extent  of  the  operations  prescribed 
from  year  to  year,  and  that  such  variations  shall  be  governed  by  the 
effect  of  the  afforestation  works  on  employment,  and  should  be  arranged 
in  relation  to  the  state  of  the  labor  market  and  to  the  aggregate  demand 


*  Evidence  ol  Mr.  A.  I  London  School  <>f  Economics,  University  of  London 

before  the  British  Poor  1  ion,  March  27, 1907,  Minority  Report,  p  I 

52 


for  labor  in  the  United  Kingdom  as  reflected  in  the  Board  of  Trade's 
Index  Number  of  Unemployment  or  otherwise."* 

A  sum  equalling  $5,000,000  has  been  set  aside  by  the  Road  Fund 
Board  (Report  for  year  ending  March  31,  1915,)  "to  be  used  for  works 
to  be  carried  out  in  a  period  of  trade  depression."  When  the  war  broke 
out  the  board  curtailed  its  general  appropriations  for  road  development 
but  immediately  made  advances  to  the  amount  of  about  $1,000,000  to 
local  highway  authorities  in  whose  districts  there  was  distress  due  to 
the  war.  Arrangements  were  also  made  to  approve  projects  in  road  de- 
velopment to  the  additional  amount  of  about  $10,500,000  in  the  event  of 
there  being  sufficient  unemployment  to  require  that  more  work  be  under- 
taken in  order  to  prevent  distress.f  Up  to  March  31,  1915,  these  latter 
amounts  had  not  been  needed,  but  were  available  if  needed,  without 
delay,  as  a  preventive  of  unemployment. 

Some  effort  has  been  made  in  German  cities  to  carry  on  during  the 
winter  months  and  in  dull  years  an  increased  amount  of  necessary  work. 
The  most  complete  plan  is  that  in  Dusseldorf.J  The  German  methods, 
though  meritorious,  take  on  more  the  form  of  winter  relief  work  for 
the  unemployed  than  that  of  the  British  Development  Commission. 

Planning  public  improvements  with  regard  to  the  state  of  employ- 
ment would  mean  that  a  general  scheme  would  be  laid  out  covering  a 
period  of  from  seven  to  ten  years. §  In  each  normal  business  year  a 
certain  percentage  of  the  public  improvements  program  could  be  de- 
ferred, i.e.,  put  into  a  sinking  fund  against  dull  times.  When  the  lean 
years  occur  and  private  employers  lay  off  help,  which  would  be  indicated 
by  information  as  to  the  state  of  employment  furnished  by  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor  and  the  public  employment  bureaus,  the  state  and  the 
city  would  at  once  begin  work  on  a  deferred  public  improvements  pro- 
gram in  accordance  with  a  well-worked  out  plan,  as  above  suggested. 

This  does  not  mean  that  all  public  improvements  would  be  forced 
into  such  a  program.  Public  necessity  would  take  precedence.  Such 
public  improvements  as  must  be  prosecuted  at  once  or  with  continuing 
regularity  need  not  be  interfered  with.  There  are,  however,  certain  un- 
dertakings, large  and  small,  which  the  state  and  municipality  must 
provide  for  and  which,  taken  together,  with  due  regard  to  public  needs 
and  efficient  and  economical  management,  may  be  prosecuted  as  well 
in  one  bad  year  as  to  be  scattered  over  three  to  five  busy  years. 

Planning  public  improvements  in  accordance  with  such  a  program 
does  not  mean  employing  the  unemployed  on  municipal  relief  works. 


*  This  principle  is  applied  to  other  projects  recommended  by  the  Development  Commission  and  to  the 
highway  development  promoted  by  the  Road  Board. 

t  All  approved  projects  are  stated  by  the  Board  to  be  necessary  works,  "but  no  grants  are  to  be  made 
unless  distress  arising  from  lack  of  employment  should  occur."     Fifth  Annual  Report,  p.  17. 

t  See  p.  89. 

§  Such  a  program  carried  out  by  a  city,  state  or  the  national  government  would  properly  include  such 
a  percentage  of  public  expenditures,  other  than  "public  improvements"  and  "public  works,"  as  would  be 
practical.  Clothing,  blankets,  shoes,  arms,  and  other  equipment  for  army  and  navy,  post  office  extensions 
and  repairs,  historical  documents,  etc.,  are  suggestive. 

53 


It  proposes  that  public  improvements  be  carried  forward  through  the 
letting  of  contracts,  or  by  direct  employment,  in  accordance  with  the 
accustomed  and  usual  procedure.  It  is  not  proposed  that  there  shall  be 
deviation  from  the  regular  procedure  other  than  that  involved  in  plan- 
ning ahead  and  putting  into  effect  the  larger  part  of  this  program  in 
years  when  it  would  have  a  steadying  effect  on  general  employment 
rather  than  in  years  when  private  employers  are  busily  engaged.  Con- 
tracts would  be  let  in  the  usual  manner  and  workmen  hired  at  the 
standard  rate  of  pay,  as  is  customary.  No  preference  is  to  be  given  the 
"unemployed"  nor  is  there  to  be  any  departure  in  any  respect  from  ac- 
customed methods  of  hiring,  supervision  or  discharge  of  workmen. 

Such  a  program  of  planning  public  improvements  and  utilizing  pub- 
lic expenditures  to  promote  regularity  of  employment  is  exactly  op- 
posed to  that  of  "employing  the  unemployed"  on  public  works.  The 
former  in  no  wise  departs  from  sound  public  policy  and  established 
procedure.  The  weakness  of  all  relief  works  undertaken  by  city  gov- 
ernments after  wide-spread  unemployment  has  occurred,  is  that  such 
works  are  almost  invariably  expensive  and  extravagant ;  that  the  unem- 
ployed are  of  so  diversified  a  character  that  a  proper  working  force  can 
not  be  secured ;  that,  at  best,  relief  works  are  called  into  being  only  after 
unemployment  has  occurred.  A  flexible  public  improvements  program 
such  as  has  been  outlined  as  a  preventive  measure  and  has  no  relation 
to  relief  or  charity.* 

In  addition  to  what  might  be  done  in  developing  a  public  improve- 
ments program  over  a  period  of  years,  or  controlling  expenditures  within 
the  year,  some  relief  could  be  accomplished  in  steadying  employment  by 
arranging  for  purchases  and  deliveries  of  non-perishable  products  so  as 
to  permit  deliveries  at  such  times  and  in  such  quantities  as  to  allow  their 
manufacture  in  slack  seasons.  With  the  expenditure  of  approximately 
$25,000,000  annually  by  the  City  of  New  York  in  the  purchase  of  sup- 
plies, equipment  and  materials,  there  will  be  opportunity  for  a  certain 
definite  influence  in  steadying  employment  by  means  of  the  methods 
herein  suggested. 

Regularization  by  Private  Industry 

Labor  Shift  or  "Turn  Over" 

A  problem  that  has  been  receiving  an  increasing  amount  of  atten- 
tion from  the  managers  of  progressive  business  concerns  is  the  constant 
stream  of  employees  going  in  and  out  of  employment.  In  industries 
maintaining  a  more  or  less  constant  working  force,  this  accounts  in  the 
aggregate  for  a  surprisingly  large  number  of  changes  in  employment 


*  Mr.  N.  I.  Stone,  former  expert  to  the  U.  S.  Tariff  Board,  in  an  address  before  the  Efficiency  Society 
in  January,  1915,  on  "A  National  Employment  Reserve"  suggested  that  a  national  program  of  road  building 
be  laid  out  by  which  the  national,  state  and  local  communities  would  each  contribute  to  the  expense  in  equal 
proportion,  and  that  the  construction  of  this  national  highway  system  be  prosecuted  with  regard  to  the  state 
of  employment. 

54 


during  the  year,  which  in  turn  accounts  for  a  considerable  amount  of  un- 
employment. 

Mr.  Magnus  W.  Alexander  of  the  General  Electric  Company  of 
West  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  in  a  recent  address  gives  the  result  of  his 
study  of  large,  medium  and  small  manufacturing  concerns  throughout 
the  United  States.*  In  this  address,  depicting  the  economic  waste  of 
"Hiring  and  Firing,"  Mr.  Alexander  summed  up  information  gathered 
from  twelve  factories  in  the  mechanical  industries  located  in  six  different 
states,  the  smallest  having  less  than  300  and  the  largest  more  than  10,000 
employes  on  their  payrolls.  In  these  twelve  factories  "Statistics  show 
that  72.8  per  cent,  of  the  employes  engaged  during  the  year  had  not 
been  employed  in  these  factories  before,  while  27.2  per  cent,  had  worked 
in  the  same  factories  during  one  or  several  previous  periods." 

Mr.  Alexander  further  reported  that  "as  a  general  proposition  these 
percentages  will  be  found  to  apply  fairly  well  to  any  normal  employment 
in  the  mechanical  industries,"  and  continued  as  follows : 

"This  group  of  factories  gave  employment  to  37,274  employees  at  the  begin- 
ning and  43,971  at  the  end  of  the  year  1912.  The  net  increase  in  the  working  force 
as  between  January  and  December  31,  amounted,  therefore,  to  6,697  employees, 
while  during  the  same  period  42,571  people  had  been  hired  and  accordingly,  35,874 
had  dropped  out  of  the  employment  for  whatsoever  reason.  In  other  words, 
about  six  and  one-third  times  as  many  people  had  to  be  engaged  during  the  year 
as  constituted  the  permanent  increase  of  the  force  at  the  end  of  that  period. 
.  .  .  The  important  fact,  however,  stands  out  that  42,571  people  had  to  be 
engaged  during  the  year  in  order  to  increase  the  v/orking  force  by  only  6,697." 

After  deducting  the  changes  in  the  working  force  that  would  nat- 
urally occur  from  death,  sickness,  withdrawals,  discharges  for  justifi- 
able causes,  Mr.  Alexander  concluded  that  there  was  apparently  an  un- 
necessary engagement  of  22,031  of  the  42,571  employees  engaged  during 
the  year. 

The  managers  of  the  industries  studied  by  Mr.  Alexander  estimated 
the  cost  of  hiring  and  breaking  in  a  new  employee  at  all  the  way  from 
$30  to  $200  per  employee,  these  estimates  varying  with  the  diversity  of 
the  industries  represented.  The  head  of  a  large  automobile  manufactur- 
ing concern  stated  that  the  engagement  of  a  new  employee  involves  the 
expenditure  of  at  least  $100.  One  machine  tool  builder  said  that  in  his 
plant  it  would  amount  to  $150.f 

After  a  careful  analysis  of  the  cost  factors  involved,  and  taking 
into  account  the  employees  lost  through  "justifiable  causes"  of  all  kinds, 
Mr.  Alexander  reported :  "The  result  shows  that  the  apparently  un- 
necessary engagement  of  22,031  employees  within  one  year  in  the  twelve 
factories  under  investigation  involved  an  economic  waste  of  $831,000. 
This  amount     .     .     .     may  reach  a  million  dollars  if  the  decrease  of 


*  "Hiring  and  Firing,"  an  address  by  Magnu3  W.  Alexander,  July,  1915. 

t  Based  upon  a  careful  study  by  a  machine  tool  builder  in  whose  plant  1,000  men  were  hired,  while  the 
permanent  increase  of  the  force  was  only  60. 

55 


profits  due  to  a  reduced  production  and  the  increase  of  expense  on  ac- 
count of  an  enlarged  equipment  investment  are  taken  into  consideration." 
Figures  furnished  the  Mayor's  Committee  by  several  of  the  larger 
industries  showed  the  following : 

In  one  establishment  in  1914  over  90,000  applicants  for  employment  were  in- 
terviewed, over  5,600  were  hired,  1,200  discharged  and  suspended,  2,600  laid  off, 
4,700  were  lost  by  resignation,  and  a  total  of  approximately  8,500  out  of  an  average 
working  force  of  10,000  passed  in  and  out  of  the  plant  in  a  year. 

Another  large  industry  paid  $518,000  in  wages  to  salesmen  who  remained  in  the 
Company's  employ  less  than  six  months.  Another  interviewed  24,000  people,  hired 
about  3,000,  and  laid  off  or  lost  by  resignation  over  2,100  to  maintain  an  average  force 
of  3.000. 

A  Philadelphia  textile  firm  retained  one-half  of  all  employees  hired 
from  1907  to  1915  less  than  ten  weeks.  Seventy-four  per  cent,  of  all 
the  persons  hired  remained  less  than  one  year.* 

Studies  made  by  the  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Com- 
mission showed  that : 

"In  ten  confectionery  establishments  of  New  York  City,  3,138  persons  were 
employed  in  order  to  maintain  an  average  force  of  953.f  In  one  shirt  factory  only 
122,  or  29  per  cent,  of  a  total  of  415  employed  in  one  year  remained  49  weeks  or 
more.J  1,657  employees  were  added  and  1,571  dropped  during  one  year  in  nine 
paper  box  factories  in  order  to  keep  up  a  working  force  averaging  792.  229  women 
operatives  in  this  industry  informed  representatives  of  the  Factory  Investigating 
Commission  that  they  had  lost  on  the  average  five  weeks  a  year  through  this  shift- 
ing process. § 

"In  eleven  large  department  stores,  with  an  average  total  force  of  27,264, 
there  were  added  during  the  year  44,308  persons  and  41,859  left  or  were  dropped 
during  the  same  period.  One  store  employed  12.159  workers  during  the  year  to 
maintain  an  average  force  of  3,750."|| 

For  the  correction  of  these  evils,  the  first  step  necessary  is  the  es- 
tablishment of  employment  departments  by  the  industries  affected.  The 
Society  for  the  Study  of  Employment  Problems,  organized  through  the 
activities  of  the  Mayor's  Committee,  and  composed  of  responsible  mana- 
gers having  charge  of  employment  policies  in  some  of  the  largest  indus- 
tries in  New  York,  will  make  the  study  and  improvement  of  employment 
methods  its  special  field  of  effort.** 

The  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  is  now  engaged  in  a 
study  of  employment  policies  and  the  labor  "turn  over"'  in  all  plants  in 
the  United  States  known  to  them  to  have  established  employment  de- 
partments. Figures  from  this  investigation,  which  will  be  the  first 
comprehensive  study  of  its  kind,  will  not  be  available  for  about  a  year. 


*  Willits,  Annals  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  August,  1915,  p.  129. 
t  Fourth  Report,  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission,  Vol.  II,  p.  324. 
tll'id.,  p.  214. 
§  Ibid.,  p.  256. 
I]  Ibid.,  p.  92. 

Business  Organizing  to  Study  Its  Employment  Problems,"  p.  40. 

56 


Fluctuations  in  Employment.* 

The  tremendous  fluctuations  in  employment  in  private  industries  are 
fully  realized  by  but  few  of  the  managers  of  such  industries,  for  the 
reason  that  figures  are  not  generally  available. 

According  to  recent  studies  of  the  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Com- 
mission the  number  of  persons  employed  in  any  one  week  in  38  representative  retail 
stores,  in  eight  different  localities  outside  of  New  York  City,  employing  from  18  to 
1,240  persons  each,  varied  from  11,726,  the  largest  number  employed,  to  8,266,  the 
smallest  number.  The  average  number  employed  was  9,400.  Similarly,  the  largest 
amount  paid  in  wages  during  one  week  was  $107,409,  the  smallest  $77,966.  At  the 
lowest  point  the  number  of  employes  is  11.8  per  cent,  and  the  wage  payment  is  12.5 
per  cent,  below  the  average.f  At  the  highest  point  employment  and  wages  were 
24.7  per  cent.,  and  20.5  per  cent,  above  their  respective  averages.  44  per  cent,  more  peo- 
ple were  employed  at  the  height  of  the  season  than  in  the  slack  season.  In  New  York 
City  18  of  the  largest  department  stores  showed  fluctuations  in  the  number  of  persons 
employed  of  approximately  50  per  cent,  of  the  regular  force.  In  some  stores  the 
variation  reached  66  per  cent.J 

In  57  shirt  factories  in  New  York  State  10,150  persons  were  employed  in  the 
rush  weeks  as  compared  with  7,657  in  the  slack  season,  a  variation  of  30  per  cent. 
The  fluctuations  in  wages  amounted  to  46  per  cent.  When  it  is  known  that  the  average 
wage  of  women  workers  in  this  industry  in  New  York  City  under  normal  conditions 
of  trade  is  only  $6.67,  the  serious  effects  of  such  variations  can  be  appreciated. § 

In  the  paper  box  industry  the  fluctuations  in  employment  are  reflected  rather  in 
the  pay-roll  than  in  the  number  of  employees.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  prevalent 
piece  work  system  reducing  earnings  rather  than  numbers  employed.  There  were 
oscillations  in  wages  among  the  6,300  persons  in  the  paper  box  industry  studied  by  the 
Factory  Investigation  Commission  ranging  from  $10,000  to  $15,000  within  a  few  weeks. 
These  variations  in  weekly  earnings  ran  from  10  per  cent,  above  the  average  weekly 
earnings  of  p.36  in  the  case  of  194  women  questioned  to  23  per  cent,  below  the 
average.  || 

In  45  firms  in  New  York  City  and  16  up-state  firms  manufacturing  confectionery, 
the  number  of  employees  varied  in  one  year  from  9,700  during  one  month  to  7,100  eight 
months  later,  an  annual  displacement  of  27  per  cent.  The  variations  in  wages  paid 
were  from  $79,000  in  one  week  to  $52,600  another, — a  drop  from  high  to  low  of  34 
per  cent.** 

A  study  made  by  Miss  Mary  Van  Kleeck  of  the  millinery  trade  shows  variations 
in  the  total  force  of  28  wholesale  shops  from  1,168  in  the  busiest  week  to  426  in  the 
slackest.  The  minimum  force  was  but  36  per  cent,  of  the  maximum,  showing  a  dis- 
placement of  64  per  cent.  The  wages  varied  so  that  in  the  dullest  week  only  29  per 
cent,  of  the  amount  earned  in  the  busiest  week  was  paid.  In  29  retail  shops  the  maxi- 
mum force  was  255,  the  minimum  63,  or  only  25  per  cent,  of  the  maximum.  Only  237 
out  of  a  total  of  3,177  workers  in  the  millinery  trade  worked  over  50  weeks.  61  per 
cent,  worked  less  than  20  weeks.     As  Miss  Van  Kleeck  puts  it,  "From  60  to  75  of 


*  For  a  more  adequate  treatment  of  this  subject  see :  Fourth  Report,  New  York  State  Factory  Investi- 
gating Commission;  "Wages  and  Regularity  of  Employment  in  the  Dress  and  Waist  Industry,"  Bulletin 
146,  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics;  "Wages  and  Regularity  of  Employment  in  the  Cloak,  Suit 
and  Skirt  Industry,"  Bulletin  147,  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics;  "Artificial  Flower  Makers," 
Mary  Van  Kleeck;  "Women  in  the  Book  Binding  Trade,"  Mary  Van  Kleeck;  "Irregular  Employment 
and  the  Living  Wage  for  Women,"  Irene  Osgood  Andrews,  American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  June,  1915. 

t  Fourth  Report,  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission,  Vol.  II,  p.  90. 

t  Fourth  Report,  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission,  Vol.  II,  pp.  90,  92. 

§  Ibid.,  p.  213. 

||  Third  Report,  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission,  p.  130. 
**  Fourth  Report,  New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission,  Vol.  II,  pp.  320-321. 

57 


every  hundred  workers  employed  in  the  busy  season  were  superfluous  in  the   dull 

season."* 

In  the  artificial  flower  trade  Miss  Van  Kleeck's  study  showed  variations  in  101 
firms  from  a  maximum  working  force  of  4,470  to  a  minimum  of  873.  Only  five  shops 
out  of  113  studied  were  busy  all  the  year.    Only  23  per  cent,  had  a  season  longer  than 

8  months.f 

In  the  book  binding  trade  Miss  Van  Kleeck  found  that  24  per  cent,  of  the  maxi- 
mum force  employed  in  223  binderies  in  the  busy  season,  are  "laid  off"  in  the  dull 
season.  "These  figures  indicate  that  the  demand  for  workers  so  fluctuates  that  one 
out  of  every  four  bindery  women  needed  in  the  busy  season  is  superfluous  when  the 
book  market  is  dull."t 

In  the  cloak,  suit  and  skirt  Industry  in  New  York  City,  90  shops  employed,  2,158 
week-workers  in  March,  1913,  but  only  1,120  in  December,  1912.  Of  4,858  persons 
employed  in  16  occupations  in  the  trade,  but  860,  or  17.7  per  cent.,  were  employed  more 
than  40  weeks.  The  pay-roll  for  the  busiest  week  was  280  per  cent,  higher  than  for 
the  lowest.§ 

In  260  shops  of  the  dress  and  waist  Industry  in  1912,  20,524  workers  were 
employed  in  March  as  against  10,304  in  August,  a  difference  of  about  50  per  cent.  The 
average  wage  earned  by  all  the  workers  in  the  industry  during  1912  was  73  per  cent, 
of  that  earned  in  the  busiest  weeks.  That  is  to  say,  a  worker  who  could  earn  $15 
weekly  in  the  busy  week  would  average  $10.94  throughout  the  year.  A  $10  worker 
would  average  $7.33. || 

The  study  of  conditions  of  employment  in  the  iron  and  steel  indus- 
tries made  under  the  direction  of  Charles  P.  Neill,  then  Commissioner  of 
Labor,  refers  to  the  opinions  of  the  workmen  that  questions  affecting 
hours  of  labor  and  rates  of  wages  are  not  of  more  importance  than  the 
serious  irregularity  of  work  and  frequent  unemployment  with  the  re- 
sulting uncertainties  of  income.  The  figures  show  that  21.9  per  cent, 
of  the  yearly  91,000  employed  were  able  to  work  less  than  40  weeks  in 
the  highly  prosperous  year  of  1910.  Less  than  40  per  cent,  of  the  entire 
force  worked  48  weeks  or  over.  This  irregularity  of  employment  affected 
annual  earnings  so  that  "in  producing  departments"  operating  "six 
months  or  more  during  1910,  44.1  per  cent,  of  the  86,590  employes  had 
not  the  opportunity  to  earn  as  much  as  $600  per  year."** 


Irregularity  of  Employment  and  the  Worker 

The  citations  in  the  preceding  pages  of  irregularity  of  employment 
among  workers  in  the  various  industries  mentioned,  are  indicative  of 
what  all  experienced  observers  believe  to  obtain  in  practically  all  man- 
ufacturing and  distributive  employment.  The  building  trades,  general 
contracting,  longshore  work,  team  driving,  and  other  general  employ- 
ments are  known  to  be  subject  to  marked  irregularities  which  in  the  ag- 


*  "Wages  in  the  Millinery  Trade,"  Mary  Van  Kleeck,  Fourth  Report  New  York  State  Factory  Inves- 
tigating Commission,  Vol.  II,  pp   411,  417,  432. 

t  "Artificial  Flower  Makers,"  Mary  Van  Kleeck,  pp.  40-41. 

t  "Women  in  the  Book  Binding  Trade,"  Mary  Van  Kleeck,  pp.  107-108. 

§  Bulletin  147,  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  p.  11. 

||  Bulletin  146,  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  pp.  158,  161. 
**  Senate  Document  110;    "Conditions  of  Employment  in  the  Iron  and  Steel  Industry,"  Volume  3,  pp. 
213,  220. 

68 


gregate,  result  in  serious  unemployment.  The  secretary  of  the  United 
Board  of  Business  Agents  of  the  Building  Trades  Unions  of  New  York 
City,  estimates  the  average  annual  earnings  in  normal  years  of  the 
skilled  workmen  in  the  building  trades  to  be  about  60  per  cent,  of  the 
possible  earnings,  or  approximately  $900,  and  for  unskilled  workmen 
about  $600.  Neither  this  estimate  nor  the  figures  previously  cited  as  to 
irregularity  of  employment  in  the  various  industries  referred  to,  are  for 
abnormal  years.  The  years  1912  and  1913,  when  the  investigations  of  the 
New  York  State  Factory  Investigating  Commission  were  made,  were 
years  of  normal  employment.  The  returns  obtained  by  the  Mayor's 
Committee  in  December,  1914,  from  404  factories,  showed  that  13.5 
per  cent,  fewer  persons  were  employed  during  the  third  week  of  that 
month  than  during  the  corresponding  week  of  December,  1913.  There 
was  also  an  increase  of  177  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  part  time  workers, 
further  accentuating  the  loss  of  annual  income  due  to  unemployment. 

It  is  obviously  a  truism  that  the  welfare  of  the  workers  of  New 
York  depends  upon  the  certainty  of  employment  in  the  industries  upon 
which  they  depend  for  their  maintenance.  These  industries  are  collec- 
tively and  individually  the  magnet  which  attracts  the  working  men  and 
women  to  the  city.  The  industries,  in  turn,  depend  upon  the  presence  of 
a  constant  number  of  willing  and  efficient  workers.  The  public  interest  de- 
mands that  those  who  have  been  drawn  into  any  industry  and  are  willing 
and  efficient  shall  be  reasonably  certain  of  regular  and  continuous  em- 
ployment. The  ideal  which  New  York  has  a  right  to  expect  its  indus- 
tries to  approximate,  or  at  least  strive  for,  is  that  every  worker  who  of- 
fers his  services  shall  be  entitled  to  a  "steady  job."  These  workers  are 
dependent  upon  their  weekly  wages  for  sustenance.  It  is  not  enough 
that  the  weekly  wage  rate  (or  the  hourly  rate  as  is  the  practice  in  many 
trades),  shall  be  sufficient  for  the  week  (or  the  hour).  Annual  earnings 
must  be  adequate  to  maintain  the  workers  and  their  families  in  comfort. 

In  affirming  that  wages  should  be  sufficient  to  maintain  "an  average 
adequate  for  the  maintenance  of  a  decent  standard  of  living  throughout 
the  year,"  the  right  of  the  worker  in  an  industry  to  permanence  and  reg- 
ularity of  employment,  (assuming  competence  and  willingness  to  work) 
was  recognized  as  an  ideal  aim,  though  not  a  present  right  by  the  Coun- 
cil of  Conciliation  appointed  by  the  Mayor  in  the  Cloak,  Suit  and  Skirt 
Industry.*    The  Council  reported  : 

"That  while  it  is  the  dictate  of  common  sense,  as  well  as  common  humanity, 
in  the  slack  season  to  distribute  work  as  far  as  possible  equally  among  wage  earn- 
ers of  the  same  level  and  character  of  skill,  this  practice  can  not  be  held  to 
imply  the  right  to  a  permanent  tenure  of  employment,  either  in  a  given  shop  or 
even  in  the  industry  as  a  whole.  A  clear  distinction  must  be  drawn  between  an 
ideal  aim  and  a  present  right. 

"The  constant  fluctuations — the  alternate  expansions  and  contractions  to  which 
the  cloak-making  industry  is  so  peculiarly  subject,  and  its  highly  competitive  char- 
acter, enforce  this  distinction.    But  an  ideal  aim  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  stigmatized 


*  Findings  of  the  Mayor's  Council  of  Conciliation  in  the  Cloak,  Suit  and  Skirt  Industry,  August  5,  1915. 

59 


as  Utopian,  nor  docs  it  exclude  substantial  approximations  to  it  in  the  near  future. 
Such  approximations  arc  within  the  scope  of  achievement,  by  means  of  earnest 
efforts  to  regularize  employment  and  by  such  increase  of  wages  as  will  secure  an 
age  adequate  for  the  maintenance  of  a  decent  standard  of  living  throughout 
the  year."  * 

Mr.  Justice  Higgins  of  the  Australian  Commonwealth  Arbitration 
Court  in  a  recent  decision  fixing  a  minimum  hourly  rate  of  wages  for 
dock  and  wharf  laborers  under  the  minimum  wage  law,  made  an  award 
based  upon  the  evidence  that  the  average  number  of  hours  per  week 
which  the  men  could  obtain  work,  was  30.f  The  wage  rates  recom- 
mended by  the  Council  of  Conciliation  in  the  Cloak,  Suit  and  Skirt  In- 
dustry were  based  upon  the  practical  acceptance  of  the  unions'  conten- 
tion that  employment  on  the  average,  amounted  to  not  more  than  26 
weeks  in  the  year.J  The  Massachusetts  Commission  on  Minimum 
Wage  Boards  affirmed  that  "regularity  of  employment  is  as  vital  to  the 
worker  as  a  living  wage."§ 

In  certain  highly  organized  trades  (from  the  trade  union  point  of 
view)  the  hourly  rates  of  wages  contended  for  by  the  employees  and 
granted  by  the  employers,  are  based  upon  the  recognition  of  a  conceded 
considerable  amount  of  unemployment.  These  concessions,  however, 
prevail  mainly  where  the  absence  of  machinery  makes  the  skill  of  the 
workman  the  most  important  factor  in  the  industry. 

Mrs.  Irene  Osgood  Andrews,  in  summing  up  the  conclusions  of  a 
careful  study  of  irregularity  of  employment  and  the  living  wage,|| 
says: 

"It  is  found  that  for  trained  and  experienced  workers  (women)  .  .  .  the 
actual  income  falls  from  10  per  cent,  to  20  per  cent,  below  the  possible  income 
based  on  the  rate  of  pay. 

"An  investigation  by  the  Connecticut  Commission  on  the  Conditions  of  Wage- 
Earning  Women  and  Minors**  showed  that  for  942  females  in  the  cotton  industry 
the  weekly  earnings  were  13.9  per  cent,  less  than  full  time  earnings ;  in  the  silk 
industry  for  1,175  females  weekly  earnings  were  18.2  per  cent,  less  than  full  time 
earnings ;  in  brass  factories  for  662  females,  the  figures  show  a  loss  of  14.1  per 
cent. ;  in  the  metal  trades  for  2,541  females  the  figures  show  a  loss  of  13.9  per 
cent.    These  results  are  taken  from  50  factories  in  14  localities." 

It  is  often  carelessly  assumed  that  the  workers  called  into  a  trade 
by  the  demands  of  its  busy  seasons  are  employed  at  some  other  work 
during  the  rest  of  the  year,  with  no  definite  notion  of  what  the  assumed 
"other  employment"  is.  The  facts  so  far  available  give  no  warrant  for 
this  assumption.  After  a  careful  investigation  of  many  industries  em- 
ploying  women,   the   Massachusetts   Commission   on    Minimum   Wage 


*  Not  italicized  in  original. 

t  Survey,  August  1,  1914. 

t  Hrief  submitted  by  the  International  Ladies'  Garment  Workers  Union  and  the  Cloak,  Suit  and  Skirt 
Makers'  Unions,  July,   1915. 

§  Report  of  the  Massachusetts  Commission  on  Minimum  Wage  Boards,  1912,  p.  162. 

||  "Irregular  Employment  and  the  Living  Wage  for  Women,"  Irene  Osgood  Andrews,  American  Labor 
Legislation  Review,  June,  1915,  p.  297. 

**  Report  of  February  1.  1013,  quoted  in  American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  June,  1915,  p.  298. 

60 


Boards  in  1911  said:  "No  (female)  worker  can  count  on  casual  work  or 
a  supplementary  job  to  fill  in  the  time  lost  by  industrial  causes."* 

Miss  Odencrantz,  writing  in  the  "Survey"  for  May  1st,  1909,  states 
that  one-quarter  of  426  girls  who  had  graduated  from  a  trade  school  had 
left  the  trades  for  which  they  were  trained  because  their  employment  was 
too  irregular  in  favor  of  others  promising  greater  regularity  of  employ- 
ment. 

The  New  York  Commission  on  Employer's  Liability  stated  in  its 
report  on  Unemployment  :f 

"There  is  little  evidence,  except  in  highly  organized  trades  like  building,  to 
show  that  wages  are  adjusted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford  an  adequate  annual 
income  to  the  wage  earner  despite  loss  of  time  through  unemployment.  It  would 
be  an  advantage  to  the  employer  to  retain  his  employees  in  constant  employment 
throughout  the  year,  if  he  had  to  pay  them  in  the  busy  seasons  an  additional  sum 
to  enable  them  to  live  in  the  slack  months.  That  employers  do  not  give  steady 
employment  is  evidence  that  wages  are  not  adjusted  on  any  such  basis." 

Discussing  "unemployment  and  the  wage  scale":):  in  a  recent  paper, 
Miss  Mary  Van  Kleeck  concludes : 

"If  wages  are  on  the  whole  highest  in  the  industries  in  which  the  fluctuations 
of  employment  are  greatest,  the  fact  is  not  reflected  in  the  best  statistical  infor- 
mation available  on  the  subject.  On  the  contrary,  the  census  statistics  seem  to  in- 
dicate that  there  is  no  consistent  or  significant  difference  in  wages  between  the  in- 
dustries in  which  unemployment  is  least  and  those  in  which  it  is  most  prevalent." 

Irregularity  of  employment  is  an  increasingly  vital  factor  as  affecting 
the  annual  incomes  of  the  wage  earner  whose  tenure  of  employment 
is  by  the  day  or  week,  in  view  of  the  growing  tendency  of  industrial 
establishments  to  be  operated  in  larger  units  with  a  corresponding 
increase  in  the  proportion  of  wage  earners  to  the  whole  number  en- 
gaged in  the  industry.  Of  the  whole  number  of  persons  engaged  in 
manufactures  in  1909,  6,615,046,  or  seven-eighths  of  a  total  of  7,676,578, 
were  wage  earners.  About  one-sixteenth  additional  were  clerks. §  "In  twelve 
industries,  the  wage  earners  constitute  over  90  per  cent,  of  the  total  num- 
ber engaged,  while  in  37  of  the  43  industries  given  in  the  Census  Abstract 
they  constitute  over  80  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  engaged. "||  In 
the  most  highly  organized  industry  of  all,  the  railroad  industry,  more 
than  99  per  cent,  of  the  persons  engaged  in  the  industry  are  subordinate 
employees.**  In  four  leading  highly  organized  industries  the  average 
per  cent,  of  wage  earners  to  the  whole  number  engaged  in  the  industry  is 
illustrated  by  the  following  table  taken  from  the  Thirteenth  Census  (p. 
453). 


*  "Irregular  Employment  and  the  Living  Wage,"  Irene  Osgood  Andrews,  American  Labor  Legislation 
Review,  June,  1915,  p.  302. 

t  New  York  Commission  on  Employer's  Liability,  etc.,  3d  Report,  "Unemployment  and  the  Lack  of 
Farm  Labor,"  p.  53. 

t  "The  Effect  of  Unemployment  on  the  Wage  Scale,"  Mary  Van  Kleeck,  Annals  of  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Political  and  Social  Science,  August,  1915. 

§  Abstract  of  the  Thirteenth  Census,  p.  452. 

||  "income,"  Scott  Nearing,  p.  65. 
**  Statistics  of  Railways  in  the  United  States,  1911,  op.  cit.,  p.  27. 

61 


Industry 


Total  No. 
Employees 


Wage  Earners 
Average  No. 


Wage  Earners 
Average 
Per  Cent. 


Boots  and  Shoes,  including  cut  stock  and 
findings 

Cotton  Goods,  including  cotton  small  wares. . 

Foundry  and  Machine  Shop  Products 

Iron  and  Steel,  Steel  Works  and  Rolling 
Mills 


215,923 
387,771 
615,485 

260,762 


198,297 
378,880 
531,011 

240,076 


91.8 
97.7 
86.3 

92.1 


The  proportion  of  wage  earners  (shop  force)  to  the  total  number  of 
employees  in  the  factories  in  New  York  City  for  the  year  1913,  is  sum- 
marized by  industrial  groups  from  official  reports  in  the  following  table.* 


Industry 

Total  No. 
Employees 

Office  Force 

Shop  Force 

Per  Cent. 
Shop  Force 

Stone,  Clay  and  Glass  Products. . . 
Metals,  Machinery  and  Convey- 
ances   

14,248 

125,949 
46.875 
47,061 
22,714 
1,537 
86,518 
34,962 

312,254 

82,579 

7,869 

1,057 

12,616 

2,520 

2,820 

3,413 

100 

11,740 
1,582 

11,716 

5,372 

335 

13,191 

113,333 
44,355 
44,241 
19,301 
1,437 
74,778 
33,380 

300,538 

77,207 

7,534 

92.0 
89.0 

Wood  Manufactures 

94.0 

Furs,  Leather  and  Rubber  Goods.. 
Paper 

94.0 
84.0 
93.0 

Printing  and  Paper  Goods 

Textiles 

86.0 
95.0 

Clothing,  Millinery,  Laundering, 
etc 

96.2 

Food,  Liquors  and  Tobacco 

Water,  Light  and  Power 

93.0 
95.0 

Grand  Total 

782,566 

53,271 

729,295 

93.3 

The  conclusion  arrived  at  by  the  most  serious  and  careful  students 
of  the  problem,  and  confirmed  by  the  experience  of  the  few  large  em- 
ployers whose  experiments  will  be  cited,f  is  that  while  under  the  pres- 
ent conditions  of  industrial  development  a  certain  amount  of  irregularity 
of  employment,  and  consequently  of  unemployment,  is  inevitable,  the 
existing  tremendous  fluctuations  in  employment  can,  to  a  considerable 
degree,  be  controlled  by  special  effort.  This  is  more  particularly  true 
in  the  more  highly  organized  industries  in  which  facilities  exist  for  study 
of  the  conditions  of  manufacture,  the  state  of  the  trade,  and  means  of 
marketing  the  product.  If  planning  for  steadiness  of  employment  were 
made  a  function  of  management,  as  in  the  case  of  the  large  industry 
hereafter  to  be  referred  to,J  a  field  for  hopeful  experiment  would  be  opened 
up.  The  real  economies  resulting  from  a  more  efficient  and  productive 
labor  force,  which  a  steady  working  force  would  undoubtedly  be,  should 
be  as  good  business  as  the  movement  for  better  sanitation,  good  lighting, 
and  reduction  in  the  number  of  industrial  accidents  has  everywhere 
proved  itself  to  be. 


*  Compiled  from  Table  VI,  Second  Annual  Industrial  Directory,  N.  Y.  State  Department  of  Labor,  1913. 
(These  figures  do  not  include  proprietors.) 
tPage.  63. 
J  See  p.  63. 


62 


"Statistics  of  employment  show  that  the  aggregate  of  employment 
during  any  given  year  does  not  vary  much."*  "These  baneful  irregulari- 
ties of  employment  appear  inevitable  so  long  as  they  remain  permissible, 
as  do  sweating  wages  and  other  conditions  of  labor.  When  they  are  no 
longer  permissible,  the  organized  intelligence  of  the  trade  will  adjust 
itself  to  the  new  conditions  generally  with  little  or  no  loss,  often  with 
positive  gain."f    "There  is  no  slack  season  for  the  kingdom  as  a  whole."! 

The  immediate  opportunity  and  duty  devolving  upon  managers  of 
industry  is  an  organized  effort  within  industry  itself  for  a  regularized 
and  controlled  production.  The  steps  to  be  taken,  and  the  progress 
which  can  be  made,  will  be  variable  in  accordance  with  the  conditions 
of  each  industry.  In  certain  seasonal  trades,  such  as  the  needle  trades, 
a  concerted  effort  by  the  industry  as  a  whole,  is  essential.  Even  a  con- 
certed effort  in  these  industries  will  accomplish  results  slowly  because  of 
the  great  number  of  small  establishments,  the  lack  of  standardization, 
and  the  varying  demands  of  the  changeful  purchaser.  The  metal  trades 
and  other  less  variable  groups  should  find  the  task  less  difficult. 

Progress  Made  in  Regularizing  Industry 

Scattered  experiments  here  and  there  throughout  the  country  to 
which  little  if  any  publicity  has  been  given,  indicate  what  may  be  accom- 
plished if  employers  themselves  make  an  effort  to  cut  down  the  fluctua- 
tions in  employment  occurring  in  their  factories. 

The  manager  of  the  "Planning  Department"§  of  a  large  industry 
which  has  accomplished  a  great  deal  in  the  last  ten  years  to  insure  uni- 
formity of  production  and  regularity  of  employment  in  its  factory  says : 

"That  for  any  manufacturer  to  secure  uniform  daily  production  and  partially 
to  eliminate  the  evils  of  seasonal  production  requires  practically  an  entire  reor- 
ganization of  the  business  with  this  as  one  of  the  primary  objects.  Itself  not  a 
part  of  the  organizing  methods,  it  is  a  primary  objective  and  must  permeate  every 
fibre  of  the  whole  institution." 

The  industry  above  referred  to  does  an  annual  business  of  about 
$15,000,000,  employs  over  10,000  persons,  and  has  factories  located  in 
a  number  of  different  towns.  The  normal  period  of  unemployment 
in  this  industry  prior  to  definite  attempts  to  regularize  it  was  from  twelve 
to  twenty-five  weeks,  eight  to  sixteen  weeks  being  due  to  seasonal 
changes,  two  to  four  weeks  to  fluctuations  in  the  volume  of  business, 
two  to  five  weeks  to  lack  of  work  or  stock.  At  the  present  time,  the  pay- 
rolls from  January  .to  December,  in  some  of  the  factories  affected,  do  not 
vary  by  as  much  as  one  per  cent.   The  company  secures  the  co-operation 


*  "Work  and  Wealth,"  Hobson,  1914,  p.  230. 
ilfnrt.,  p.  230. 

t  "Prevention  of  Destitution,"  Sidney  Webb,  p.  124. 

§  The  term  is  here  used  to  denote  planning  of  rate  and  time  of  production,  and  is  thus  indicative  of  a 
new  attitude  towards  the  employment  problem. 

63 


of  its  distributors  in  obtaining  their  orders  so  that  it  may  plan  its  work 
on  monthly  estimates  submitted  at  the  beginning  of  the  season.  A 
special  department  has  been  created  for  the  manufacture  of  special  goods. 
This  product  is  sold  outside  of  the  regular  market  and  is  utilized  to 
control  the  irregularity  of  employment  by  creating  a  market  for  a  pro- 
duct which  can  be  manufactured  in  otherwise  dull  periods.  A  policy 
has  been  developed  resulting  in  a  standard  daily  production  which  has 
not  varied  in  accordance  with  the  amount  of  orders  on  hand.  Work 
is  routed  through  the  factory  at  a  uniform  rate  in  accordance  with  plans 
previously  worked  out.  The  vacation  period  is  accomplished  by  shutting 
down  the  factory  for  one  week  in  the  summer. 

One  clothing  manufacturer  believes  that  much  may  be  done  in  a 
seasonal  industry  to  control  the  seasonal  fluctuations.  His  factory  con- 
ducts a  special  campaign  through  its  sales  department  for  slack  period 
orders.  By  concentrating  his  advertising  in  certain  periods  of  the  year 
and  on  certain  staple  numbers,  this  manufacturer  can  run  his  factory 
for  a  much  longer  period  than  under  "no-planning"  conditions.  In  four 
years  this  employer  has  reduced  his  labor  turn-over  by  80  per  cent. 

A  large  manufacturer  in  a  special  field,  with  the  co-operation  of  his 
customers,  has  been  able  to  transform  a  highly  seasonal  department  of 
his  business  with  much  slack  time  and  over  time  into  a  division  which 
gives  fairly  regular  employment  to  his  workers.  He  found  that  he  was 
able  to  keep  experienced  workers  throughout  the  year,  to  improve  the 
product  and  to  give  greater  satisfaction  to  customers.  Through  the 
consequent  savings  in  increased  business,  he  has  been  able  to  recover 
several  times  over  the  initial  expense  of  carrying  the  goods  for  some 
months  for  later  shipment.  This  concern  was  astonished  at  the  improve- 
ment in  quality  of  its  output,  not  having  realized  how  much  its  product 
had  suffered  under  the  old  system  of  slack  and  rush  periods. 

A  large  foundry  by  making  a  complete  analysis  of  sales  during 
several  months,  of  various  patterns  and  sizes  manufactured  by  it,  found 
that  a  considerable  proportion  of  its  product  was  not  subject  to  seasonal 
fluctuations,  and  was  enabled  to  estimate  accurately  the  amount  of 
product  that  might  be  made  up  in  dull  seasons  in  readiness  for  the  mar- 
ket. In  times  of  depression  its  advertising  and  selling  force  concentrate 
on  special  designs  and  patterns,  thus  creating  a  new  market.  This  firm 
and  many  others  have  done  much  to  cut  down  the  "turn  over"  of  labor 
through  its  employment  department  and  through  supervising  the  dis- 
charge of  labor  by  foremen. 

A  Philadelphia  firm  with  a  working  force  in  1914  of  1,000  employees, 
reduced  its  labor  turn-over  in  three  years  from  100  per  cent,  to  less  than 
19  per  cent.*  This  meant  that  814  fewer  men  were  "hired  and  fired"  in 
1914  than  in  1912.f 


♦Joseph  II.  Willits,  "Annuls  of  the  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,"  August,  1915 
p.  L31. 

t  Oih-  method  used  to  accomplish  this  result  was  a  slightly  higher  scale  of  wages. 

64 


Another  Philadelphia  periodical  publishing-  house  found  new  work 
for  its  mailing  force  instead  of  laying  it  off  each  month  as  theretofore.* 

Public  Responsibility  and  Public  Pressure 

Individual  Responsibility  a  Minor  Factor  in  Unemployment 

The  limits  of  this  discussion  do  not  permit  an  exhaustive,  or  even 
adequate,  treatment  of  the  causes  of  unemployment  or  of  the  degree  of 
responsibility  to  be  placed  upon  any  industrial  or  social  group  or  insti- 
tution. What  is  aimed  at  is  a  purely  pragmatic  end — "What  can  be  done 
about  it?"  Unemployment  is  a  loss  to  industry,  a  cause  of  "poor  business" 
and  "dull  trade"  to  the  retailer,  a  misfortune  to  some,  a  tragedy  to  many, 
and  of  distinct  concern  to  the  community. 

Causes  which  may  be  traced  to  individual  misfortune  or  personal 
failing  exist,  such  as  sickness,  accident,  inefficiency,  etc.  These  account 
in  the  aggregate  for  a  much  smaller  amount  of  unemployment  than  do  the 
social  and  industrial  causes.  Indeed,  it  is  admitted  that  much  sickness 
in  many  occupations,  and  certainly  industrial  injury,  is  due  to  general 
and  not  individual  causes.  Prof.  Irving  Fisher  in  his  "National  Vitality" 
estimates  that  there  are  probably  at  all  times  in  the  United  States,  3,- 
000,000  people  ill.f  In  "Industrial  Accident  Statistics,"^  Frederick  L. 
Hoffman  estimates  the  number  of  industrial  injuries  in  the  country  as 
a  whole  for  the  year  1913,  involving  a  disability  of  more  than  four  weeks, 
to  be  700,000.  Magnus  W.  Alexander  "assumed  that  four  per  cent,  of 
all  employees  are  sick  for  sufficiently  long  periods  to  necessitate  their 
replacement  temporarily  or  permanently. §  No  proofs  are  required 
that  many  are  unemployed  because  of  inefficiency,  shiftlessness,  etc.,  who 
must  be  dealt  with  as  individuals. 

The  cumulative  evidence  brought  out  by  every  study  of  the  fluctua- 
tions of  employment  and  the  causes  of  the  displacement  of  workers,  after 
taking  personal  fault  and  misfortune  fully  into  account,  points  to  the 
main  causes  of  unemployment  as  beyond  the  control  of  the  individual 
employee.  Variations  in  the  number  of  workers  needed  in  busy  and 
dull  seasons  result  in  the  dismissal  of  many  who  are  anxious  and  able 
to  work.  Changes  in  the  weather,  variations  in  output,  general  depres- 
sion in  business,  any  number  of  causes  affecting  the  stability  of  a  given 
trade,  are  beyond  the  influence  of  the  individual. 

In  the  days  before  workmen's  compensation  laws,  volumes  were 
filled  with  court  decisions  based  upon  an  endeavor  to  ascertain  whether 
the  injured  was  negligent,  whether  he  was  hurt  through  the  fault  of  a 
"fellow  servant,"  or  whether  in  accepting  employment  he  assumed  the 
risks  of  the  trade.     If  neglect  or  fault  or  an  assumed  risk  were  proved, 


*  Morris  L.  Cooke,  Annals,  American  Academy  of  Political  and  Social  Science,  August,  1915,  p.  154. 

t  "National  Vitality,"  Irving  Fisher,  p.  34. 

%  Bulletin  157,  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  March,  1915,  p.  6. 

§  "Hiring  and  Firing,"  an  address  by  Magnus  \V.  Alexander,  p.  5. 

65 


the  injured  was  compelled  to  bear  the  cost  of  the  injury  himself.  Now 
that  compensation  laws  are  on  our  statute  books,  and  New  York  has 
reached  as  high  a  standard  as  has  been  attained,  time  is  no  longer  wasted 
and  a  family's  welfare  menaced  by  the  fear  of  destitution  because  of 
"negligence,"  "fellow  servant"  or  "assumption  of  risk."  Industrial  in- 
juries have  been  recognized  as  incidents  of  industry.  While  the  doctrine 
that  accidents  can  be  prevented  was  being  preached  with  assiduity  by 
the  vanguard  of  the  "safety  first"  workers,  men  were  being  killed  and 
injured  with  a  varying  but  certain  regularity.  Certain  large  and  pro- 
gressive employers  put  brains  and  money  into  a  determined  effort  to 
reduce  the  number  of  such  accidents.  These  efforts  resulted  in  the  re- 
duction of  accidents,  and  the  saving  of  lives.  Incidentally  it  was  found 
to  be  profitable  to  safe-guard  life  and  limb.  The  industries  where  active 
accident  prevention  work  was  carried  on  were  able  to  show  a  saving 
in  dollars  and  cents  as  well  as  in  life  and  limb. 

C.  W.  Price,  in  "Safety  Engineering"  for  January,  1915,  summarizes 
the  recent  organized  activity  in  the  prevention  of  accidents,  as  follows : 

During  the  last  five  years  the  "Safety  First  Movement"  demonstrated  that  it  was 
possible  to  eliminate  75  per  cent,  of  the  deaths  and  serious  accidents  and  reduce  the 
number  of  days  lost  on  account  of  injuries  at  least  one-half. 

The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  in  seven  years  (1906-1913)  saved  11,074  men 
from  being  either  killed  or  seriously  injured. 

The  Illinois  Steel  Company  reduced  the  injuries  from  43  per  cent,  to  12  per  cent,  in 
six  years. 

One  large  concern  has  reduced  the  number  of  days  lost  over  72  per  cent,  since 
1906. 

A  properly  organized  "Safety  First"  campaign  will  net  any  concern  a  dividend  of 
at  least  25  per  cent,  on  the  money  invested  and  some  plants  now  realize  50  per  cent, 
on  the  investment  in  accident  prevention. 

The  same  progressive  and  humane  employers  whose  foresight  had 
led  to  the  establishment  of  "safety"  departments,  provided  relief  and 
accident  indemnities  for  the  benefit  of  their  injured  employees.  The  less 
considerate  and  the  less  humane  made  no  such  provision  for  the  maimed. 
Accident  prevention  was  scattered  and  far  from  universal.  The  public 
became  interested  and  finally  alert  to  its  responsibility  for  the  injured 
and  their  dependents.  Insurance  took  the  place  of  negligence.  The 
extra  cost  coming  as  a  direct  charge,  and  distributed  over  all  industry, 
no  longer  penalized  the  humane  employer  and  exempted  the  irrespon- 
sible. At  the  same  time  the  relief  societies  and  other  charities  were 
able  to  shift  a  burden  they  had  been  carrying,  much  against  their  will, 
for  years.* 

Not  alone  were  the  injured  compensated,  but  there  has  been  a 
tremendous  increase  in  the  efforts  made  to  prevent  accidents.  Work- 
men's compensation  laws  serve  as  the  public's  lever  by  which  pressure 
is  brought  on  the  industries  to  reduce  accidents  to  the  minimum.    When 


*  "Industrial  Acridents  as  a  cause  of  pauperism  in  Germany  have  been   eliminated    (by  workmen's 
compensation)  almost  altogether,"  Social  Insurance,  Rubinow,  p.  487. 

66 


accidents  "arising  out  of  and  in  the  course  of  his  employment"   occur, 
the  workman's  family  is  assured  of  a  definite  income  while  he  is  disabled. 

Unemployment,  in  its  chief  manifestations,  is  an  incident  of  industry. 
The  element  of  personal  fault  is  insignificant  compared  with  the  great 
industrial  causes. 


Public  Responsibility 

Public  responsibility  for  unemployment  arises  out  of  the  necessities 
of  the  case.  Under  existing  conditions  the  great  mass  of  men  are  depend- 
ent upon  finding  employment  for  the  very  existence  of  themselves  and 
their  families.  They  cannot  employ  themselves.  They  must  look,  in 
the  main,  to  private  industry  for  sustenance.  Private  industry  does  not 
assume  responsibility  for  employing  all  those  offering  their  labor  at 
any  given  time.  Nor  is  it  expected  to  assume  such  responsibility  since 
the  essence  of  employment  is  that  the  worker  shall  be  employed  only 
when  definite  and  profitable  employment  can  be  offered.  The  employees' 
need  for  work  cannot  be  the  deciding  factor.  But  men  who  cannot  find 
work  must  find  food  and  shelter.  Modern  ethical  standards  do  not  per- 
mit that  men,  women  and  children  should  starve.  The  public  ultimately 
provides  for  all  who  do  not  or  cannot  provide  for  themselves. 

From  another  point  of  view,  the  public  as  consumer  is  the  ultimate 
employer.  Its  demands  indicate  the  avenues  of  employment  which  pri- 
vate employers  must  follow  to  serve  its  needs.  Because  the  public's 
constantly  changing  demands  compel  the  merchants  and  manufacturers, 
in  many  lines,  to  alternate  between  periods  of  rush  and  slack  trade,  it 
cannot  avoid  its  due  measure  of  responsibility.  The  public  is  deeply 
concerned  because  unemployment  and  irregularity  of  employment  men- 
ace the  social  welfare  and  demoralize  the  standards  of  the  wage  earners 
to  whom  regularity  of  work  is  of  fundamental  importance. 

The  public's  responsibility  is  far  greater  than  that  of  any  individual 
industry,  because,  through  social  legislation,  it  can  to  a  large  degree  miti- 
gate the  evil  effects  of  unemployment  and  take  measures  to  prevent  its 
recurrence.  This  it  can  accomplish  by  distributing  the  burden  of  the 
inevitable  losses  in  such  a  way  as  to  fall  where  they  can  most  easily  be 
borne,  and  in  such  degree  as  to  bear  most  heavily  where  the  greatest 
pressure  is  needed  in  order  to  stimulate  greater  regularity  of  employment. 
For  these  two  purposes  unemployment  insurance  has  often  been 
advocated  as  the  best  available  social  instrument.  Practically,  the  loss 
to  the  individual  can  best  be  met  by  an  averaging  process  and,  its 
advocates  say,  by  insurance  methods.  Insurance  is  a  familiar 
expedient  against  death,  accident,  fire  and  calamity.  European 
experience  has  made  it  familiar  as  a  social  expedient  to  save  the 
workers  and  their  families  from  dependence  upon  poor  relief  when  con- 
fronted with  sickness,  invalidity,  old  age  and  unemployment.  In  Great 
Britain  and  the  Continent  the  public  has  assumed  responsibility  for  the 

67 


provision  of  insurance  against  the  chief  economic  risks  to  which  its 
working  population  is  exposed.  All  of  these  schemes  of  social  insurance 
have  as  one  important  aim  the  prevention  of  destitution. 

Public  Pressure 

Unemployment  insurance  may  have  an  even  more  important  result, 
i.  e.,  the  definite  exertion  of  public  pressure  to  prevent  unemployment. 
This  can  be  accomplished  by  a  carefully  worked  out  system  of  grading 
industries  with  respect  to  the  unemployment  ratio  of  each,  when  suffi- 
cient information  has  been  collated  to  make  such  grading  practical.  Such 
a  method  would  necessarily  involve  compulsory  insurance  against  unem- 
ployment as  a  social  safeguard,  the  same  as  workmen's  compensation 
laws  are  (in  this  State)  compulsory  insurance  against  economic  risks 
from  accidental  injury.  Compensation  laws  insure  against  the  total 
economic  loss  due  to  the  injured  workman's  inability  to  work  and  not, 
of  course,  against  injury  per  se.  In  effect,  however,  insurance  against 
the  contingency  of  accidental  injury,  operates  to  prevent  accidents,  in 
so  far  as  prevention  is  humanly  possible. 

I.  M.  Rubinow  in  an  address  on  sickness  insurance  points  to  the  re- 
duction of  the  mortality  rate  among  members  of  German  sick  benefit 
societies  from  99  per  10,000  in  1899  to  78  per  10,000  in  1908  as  significant 
of  the  bearing  of  sickness  insurance  on  prevention,  though  admitting  the 
probable  effect  of  other  factors.*  It  is  illustrative  of  this  relation  that  of 
a  total  budget  of  one  hundred  million  dollars,  twenty  million  dollars  was 
used  for  medical  aid. 

The  British  National  Insurance  Act,  in  addition  to  the  incentives 
to  the  prevention  of  unemployment  imposed  by  the  flat  rate  for  all  in- 
sured trades,  contains  some  suggestive  provisions  looking  toward  the 
regularization  of  industry,  though  the  differential  allowances  are  not 
great.  For  each  workman  for  whom  45  weekly  contributions  have  been 
made  by  the  employer  in  the  course  of  the  year,  a  refund  of  one-third  of 
the  employer's  contributions  is  given. f  Another  method  for  inducing 
employers  to  retain  their  workmen  is  the  remission  of  the  contributions 
of  employers  and  workmen  when  in  periods  of  depression  the  employer 
systematically  works  short  time  instead  of  laying  off  part  of  his  force.J 

Per  Contra,  casual  employment  is  penalized  by  requiring  contribu- 
tions from  both  employer  and  employee  of  one  penny  for  one  day's  work, 
2  pence  for  two  days'  work,  2l/2  pence  for  three  days'  work,  and  the  regu- 
lar rate  for  the  week.§  The  employment  of  these  casual  laborers 
through  the  labor  exchanges  enables  six  different  men  employed  on  six 
different  days  in  a  week  to  be  counted,  for  the  purposes  of  the  act,  as 
though  but  one  man  were  employed. 


*  American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  June,  1913. 
t  Act  of  1911,  Bee.  94;  1914,  See.  6. 
t  Act  of  1911,  Bee.  96;  1914,  Sec.  7. 
I  Act  of  1911,  Eighth  Schedule. 


68 


Section  II.     Insurance  and  Relief  Measures  for  the  Unemployed. 
Unemployment  Insurance* 

Insurance,  to  which  the  worker  is  entitled,  has  been  advocated  as 
preferable  to  any  form  of  relief  in  that  it  comes  as  a  right,  and  not  as  a 
grant  conditioned  on  the  good  will  of  a  benevolent  organization.  Unem- 
ployment insurance  is  little  developed  in  this  country.  Several  trade 
unions  give  out-of-work  benefits,  but  this  method  of  tiding-over  is  not 
so  extensively  utilized  by  American  unions  as  by  foreign,  partly  be- 
cause of  the  higher  rates  of  wages  in  the  organized  trades,  but  also  be- 
cause of  less  developed  methods  of  mutual  aid. 

The  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union  has  administered  out-of- 
work  benefits  for  25  years.  From  1903  to  1906,  years  of  bad  trade,  the 
union  expended  on  this  account  as  much  as  $175,000  in  one  year,  at  a 
per  capita  cost  of  $6.33.  In  1912,  disbursements  on  account  of  out-of- 
work  benefits  amounted  to  almost  $43,000  and  cost  the  membership 
$1.06  per  capita.  In  times  of  good  trade  the  union's  out-of-work  benefits 
cost  as  low  as  $0.47  per  capita.  Payments  equal  $3  per  week  for  6  weeks. 
After  a  period  of  7  weeks  they  may  be  renewed  for  7  weeks  more.  $54 
is  the  maximum  which  may  be  paid  in  any  one  year  to  one  member. 

Typographical  Union  No.  7  of  New  York  City,  as  reported  in  the 
Survey  of  February  20,  1915,  pays  to  such  of  its  300  members  as  may  be 
unemployed,  and  have  been  members  in  good  standing  for  two  years. 
out-of-work  benefits  for  16  weeks.  Members  in  good  standing  for  200 
weeks  or  more  are  not  restricted  to  the  16  weeks  limit.  Benefits  are  met 
out  of  regular  dues  and  a  special  assessment  of  one  per  cent,  of  wages, 
which  is  paid  to  the  national  office. 

Typographical  Union  No.  6,  the  Photo  Engravers'  Union  and  the 
Brewery  Workers'  Union  of  New  York  City,  paid  out-of-work  benefits 
during  the  winter  of  1914-1915  of  from  $4  for  a  period  of  12  weeks, 
in  the  case  of  the  brewery  workmen,  to  $6  weekly  in  the  case  of  the 
Photo  Engravers'  Union,  and  from  $5  to  $15  weekly  in  that  of  Typo- 
graphical Union  No.  6.f 

It  is  known  that  weekly  allowances  to  unemployed  members  were 
made  by  many  other  New  York  unions.  These  allowances,  though 
known  to  amount  to  very  considerable  sums  in  the  aggregate,  were  made 
not  on  an  insurance  basis,  but  as  assistance  to  members  who  would 
otherwise  be  in  distress.  Many  unions  assessed  their  working  members 
in  regular  weekly  amounts  in  order  to  make  possible  the  payments  to 
out-of-work  members.! 


*  Here  considered  as  relief  measure  only.  On  pp.  67,  68  it  has  been  presented  in  relation  to  the  pre- 
vention of  unemployment. 

t  Survey,  February  20,   1915. 

t  The  American  Labor  Legislation  Review,  November,  1915  (footnote),  p.  589,  gives  the  following  national 
unions  as  paying  unemployment  benefits:     Cigar  Makers,   Diamond  Wo  id  Society  of  Car- 

penters, Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  Glass  Bottle  Blowers,  Machine  Printers  and  Color  Mixers,  Metal 
Polishers,  Molders,  Pattern  Makers,  Pulp  and  Sulphite  Workers,  Shoe  Workers  and  Elastic  Goring  Weavers, 
Some  of  the  locals  which  regularly  pay  unemployment  benefits  are  Blacksmiths'  Helpers  Local  No.  1  (New 
York),  Brewers  Union  No.  1  (New  York),  Boston  Wood  Carvers'  Association  and  International  Typographical 
Union,  Locals  Nos.  6  and  7  (New  York). 

69 


Summary  of  European  Experiments 

Mr.  I.  G.  Gibbon  in  1911  published  a  comprehensive  study  of  the 
European    experiments    in    unemployment    insurance.*      Mr.    Gibbon 
grouped  the  various  plans  under  three  main  heads : 
"Compulsory  insurance,  the  insurance  being  compulsory  for  certain  classes 

of  workers ; 
"Provided  voluntary   insurance,   the   insurance  being  provided  by  public 

authority   or   somebody   other   than   the   insured   persons — and   being 

usually  open  to  workers  in  general; 
"Autonomous    voluntary    insurance,    the    insurance    being    organized    and 

administered  by  the  insured  themselves,   such  insurance  associations 

being  generally  restricted  to  persons  following  the  same  or  allied  trades." 

Compulsory  Insurance 

The  most  complete  scheme  of  unemployment  insurance  is  the  Brit- 
ish National  Insurance  Act  of  1911.  Insurance  under  this  Act  took 
effect  in  July,  1912.  It  is  compulsory  for  all  workmen  in  seven  trades — 
building,  construction  of  works,  ship-building,  mechanical  engineering, 
iron  founding,  construction  of  vehicles  and  saw-milling.  The  employers 
and  the  workmen  each  contribute  five  cents  a  week,  except  that  rates  are 
lower  for  persons  under  eighteen.  The  dues  are  paid  through  the  em- 
ployer who  deducts  the  workman's  share  from  his  wages.  An  amount 
equal  to  one-third  of  the  total  contributions  of  the  employers  and  work- 
men is  contributed  by  the  Government. 

The  law  originally  required  that  in  order  to  be  entitled  to  benefits 
a  workman  must  have  been  employed  in  an  insured  trade  for  a  period  of 
not  less  than  twenty-six  calendar  weeks  in  each  of  the  preceding  five 
years.  This  was  amended  in  1914  by  substituting  payment  of  ten  full 
contributions. 

Benefits  are  paid  in  an  insured  trade  to  workmen  who  have  made 
ten  full  contributions,  who  have  made  application  for  unemploy- 
ment benefit  in  the  prescribed  manner,  and  who  have  since  the  date 
of  the  application  been  continuously  unemployed ;  who  are  capable  of 
working  but  unable  to  obtain  suitable  employment,  and  who  have  not 
exhausted  their  rights  to  unemployment  benefits  under  this  part  of  the 
Act.  A  workman  is  not  obliged  to  accept  work  on  conditions  lower 
than  those  fixed  by  contract  or  custom  in  his  trade  and  in  the  locality, 
nor  to  accept  work  in  an  establishment  in  which  there  is  a  trade  dispute. 
No  benefits  are  paid  during  strike  or  lock-out.  If  a  workman  has  been 
discharged  for  mis-conduct,  or  has  voluntarily  left  his  employment  with- 
out just  cause,  he  cannot  enjoy  benefit  for  six  weeks. 

Reference  has  been  made  elsewheref  to  provisions  looking  toward 
the  prevention  of  unemployment  by  refunding  one-third  of  the  contribu- 


*  I.  G.  Gibbon,  "Unemployment  Insurance,"  London,  P.  S.  King  &  Co. 
t  See  p.  68. 


70 


tions  of  employers  who  keep  their  men  regularly  employed,  and  who 
have  paid  45  weekly  contributions  during  a  year,  and  by  refunding  con- 
tributions paid  in  respect  of  workmen  working  short  time  in  times  of 
depressed  trade.  Reference  has  also  been  made  to  the  provision  whereby 
higher  contributions  are  levied  for  casual  employment,  except  that  the 
employment  of  different  persons  on  different  days  through  a  labor  ex- 
change may  count  as  the  steady  employment  of  one  person.  Workmen 
who  have  paid  contributions  for  500  weeks  are  entitled  to  the  return  of 
all  contributions  paid,  with  compound  interest  at  2*^  per  cent,  a  year, 
when  they  have  reached  the  age  of  sixty. 

The  Board  of  Trade  (the  government  department  exercising  super- 
vision) has  power  to  extend  the  provisions  of  the  Act  to  trades  other 
than  those  specified  in  the  original  draft  and  may,  after  seven  years, 
"revise  the  rates  of  contribution  .  .  .  and  prescribe  different  rates 
of  contribution  for  different  insured  trades,  .  .  .  provided  ...  no 
.     .     .     increase  (shall  be)  more  than  one  penny  per  week."* 

A  provision  of  far  reaching  importance  empowers  the  "insurance 
officer"  to  test  the  skill  or  knowledge  of  workmen  who  are  unable  to 
retain  employment  because  of  lack  of  skill,  and  to  provide,  out  of  the 
unemployment  fund,  "suitable  technical  training"  for  such  workmen. f 

An  "association  of  workmen"  in  an  insured  trade,  may  make  an 
arrangement  with  the  board  of  trade,  by  which  the  union  is  repaid  three- 
fourths  of  the  amount  of  benefits  paid  its  unemployed  members,  pro- 
vided the  total  benefits  paid  exceed  the  state  benefit  by  one-third. $  There 
is  also  a  provision  for  repayments,  to  the  amount  of  one-sixth  of  ben- 
efit, to  associations  which  make  payments  to  unemployed  workmen 
whether  in  an  insured  trade  or  not,  provided  benefit  does  not  exceed  17s. 
per  week.§  This  is  to  encourage  voluntary  unemployment  insurance  in 
other  than  insured  trades. 


Workings  of  the  British  National  Insurance  Act 

The  benefits  fixed  at  7  shillings  per  week  are  of  course  not  sufficient  for  full 
maintenance  but  are  intended  to  prevent  destitution.  The  British  supporters  of  the 
Act  advocated  it  as  a  much  more  satisfactory  and  more  dignified  form  of  relief  than 
reliance  on  the  Poor  Law,  charitable  institutions  or  relief  works.  The  practice  of 
placing  part  of  the  burden  on  the  employer  is  defended  as  equitable  since  it  is  because 
of  the  fluctuating  demands  of  the  employer  that  the  workers  are  sometimes  in  reserve 
rather  than  being  regularly  employed  at  all  seasons. 

Between  two  and  a  quarter  millions  and  two  and  a  half  millions  of  workers  in  the 
insured  trades  are  covered.  Since  the  war  there  has  been  a  falling  off  (in  some 
trades)   due  to  enlistments. 

The  following  table  shows  the  number  of  insured  workmen  in  insured  trades  in 
July,  1915 : 


*  Section  102,  Act  of  1911. 

t  Section  100,  Act  of  1911. 

t  Section  105,  Act  of  1911,  No.  13,  1914. 

}  Section  106,  Aot  of  1911,  No.  14,  1914. 

71 


Number  and  Per  Cent,  of  Workers  in  Insured  Trades:* 


Number 


Pev  Cent, 
of  Total 


Building 

Construction  of  Works 

Engineering  and  Iron  Founding 

Shipbuilding :  .  .  .  . 

Construction  of  Vehicles 

Sawmilling 

Other  Insured  Workpeople 


640,947 
150,974 
758,093 
242,963 
174.275 
9,433 
42,998 


31.2 
7.5 
37.5 
12.1 
8.2 
0.4 
2.1 


2,019,683 


100.0 


*  From  Board  of  Trade  Labour  Gazette,  August,  1915. 

Benefits  are  limited  to  fifteen  weeks  in  one  year,  and  not  in  greater  proportion  than 
one  week  of  benefit  to  five  weeks  of  contribution,  and  are  not  paid  for  the  first  week. 
In  the  first  annual  report  of  operations  under  the  Act,  it  was  shown  that  in  the  study 
of  130,000  spells  of  unemployment,  63.1  per  cent,  of  unemployment  among  non-union 
men  was  covered  and  59.3  per  cent,  among  union  men.  The  spells  of  unemployment 
among  non-union  men  are  longer  than  among  unionists  as  shown  by  the  fact  that  the 
percentage  cf  non-union  men  unemployed,  but  not  entitled  to  benefit  because  of  the 
one  week  waiting  time,  amounted  to  27  per  cent.,  while  among  union  men  it  was 
34  per  cent.f 

During  the  twelve  months  from  January  15,  1913,  to  January  17,  1914,  payments 
were  made  in  respect  of  unemployment  benefits  to  a  total  of  £497,725  and  an  average 
payment  of  6  shillings.  During  that  period  1,144,213  claims  for  benefit  were  made. 
822,689,  or  72.1  per  cent.,  were  made  directly  to  the  Board  of  Trade.  321,524,  or  27.9 
per  cent.,  were  made  through  trades  unions. 

In  July,  1913,  according  to  the  First  Annual  Report,^  the  fund  had  expended 
less  than  was  expected  and  had  accumulated  a  balance  of  £1,610,000. 

Professor  Olga  S.  Halsey,  of  Wellesley  College,  writing  of  her  study  of  the  Act 
in  the  American  Labor  Legislation  Review  for  June,  1915,  says  she  was  particularly 
impressed  by  the  degree  of  co-operation  with  the  trade  unions : 

"Up  to  July,  1914,  105  associations  with  539,775  members  had  entered  into 
these  arrangements  .  .  .  and  of  these  the  president  of  the  board  of  trade  stated  that 
•twenty-one  unions,  with  a  membership  of  86,000,  had  begun  to  make  provision 
for  unemployment  insurance  since  the  passing  of  the  Act.  Thus  compulsory 
insurance  has  stimulated  voluntary  insurance."§ 

"During  the  first  year's  operation  172  unions,  with  a  membership  of  376,041, 
in  non-insured  trades  had  made  arrangements  to  gain  this  subsidy. ||  In  each 
case  the  union  must  certify  that  unemployment  has  not  been  connected  with  a 
trade  dispute,  and  allow  the  Government  to  audit  the  books  of  the  unemployment 
fund." 

The  Board  of  Trade  in  the  First  Annual  Report  states  that  the  first  year's  expe- 
rience proves,  among  other  things,  that  compulsory  state  insurance  is  administratively 
practical  and  that  it  can  be  introduced  without  destroying  voluntary   insurance.     In 


t  First  Annual  Report,  p.  36. 

t  First  Annual  Report,  pp.  22  and  31. 

§  For  payment  of  state  benefit  through  the  trades  union  (section  105,  Act  of  1911,  section  13,  Act  of  1914). 
8ee  also  page  71. 

||  One-sixth  of  benefit  paid,  if  not  in  excess  of  17s.  per  wee';  (section  100,  Act  of  1911,  section  14,  Act  of 
1914). 


72 


fact,   the   amount   of    voluntary   unemployment    insurance   had   been    enlarged    under 

the  operation  of  compulsory  insurance. 

Miss  Halsey  concludes  her  analysis  as  follows : 

"During  the  two  and  a  half  years  of  operation,  the  act  has  done  what  it 
was  expected  to  do ;  it  has  been  found  possible  to  define  the  insured  trades,  to 
pay  benefit  to  the  unemployed  workmen  within  these  trades,  and  to  make  a  saving 
on  the  actuarial  estimate.  The  accumulation  of  a  surplus  at  the  close  of  the  first 
year  is  due  in  part  to  the  phenomenally  low  rate  of*  unemployment  during  the 
first  year,  which  colors  all  the  facts  revealed  by  the  early  experience,  and  which 
should  constantly  be  borne  in  mind  in  estimating  the  value  of  the  first  year's 
success.  The  actuarial  basis  can  not  be  considered  a  final  success  until  the  act 
has  been  tested  by  a  period  of  trade  depression.  The  board  of  trade  has  found 
it  possible  to  co-operate  with  the  unions  and  to  win  the  support  of  the  Labour 
party  for  the  scheme,  so  that,  notwithstanding  relatively  minor  criticism  the  party 
is  agitating  for  the  extension  of  the  compulsory  provisions  so  that  all  trades  may 
be  included.  Furthermore,  the  existence  of  compulsory  insurance  does  not  seem 
to  have  weakened  the  movement  for  voluntary  insurance,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
to  have  given  it  a  new  impetus,  especially  within  the  insured  trades.  The  corner 
stones  upon  which  the  present  and  future  success  of  the  act  rests  are  the  exist- 
ence of  an  efficient  system  of  labor  exchanges,  and  of  a  sane  trade  union  move- 
ment with  which  it  is  possible  for  a  government  to  co-operate  without  calling 
forth  just  opposition   from   employers." 

While  the  three  years  experience  of  the  British  Unemployment  Insurance  Act  is 
not  sufficient  to  warrant  any  final  conclusions,  and  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  has 
disturbed  ordinary  conditions  of  employment,  it  is  possible  to  say  that  this  experience 
warrants  the  belief  that  compulsory  unemployment  insurance  administered  along  the 
lines  of  the  British  Act  is  practical  and  possible. 

In  October,  1914,  the  Board  of  Trade  announced  that  emergency  grants  would 
be  made  to  trade  unions  in  aid  of  exceptional  expenditures  on  account  of  unemploy- 
ment benefit  owing  to  the  war.  Because  of  the  improved  conditions  of  employment 
the  Board  of  Trade  later  announced  that  no  emergency  benefits  would  be  paid  on 
expenditures  incurred  after  the  month  of  May,  1915.* 

So  exceptional  were  conditions  of  employment  that  for  the  first  seven  months 
of  1915  the  average  weekly  number  of  claims  made  for  unemployment  benefit  equalled 
only  40  per  cent,  of  those  made  for  the  corresponding  seven  months  of  1914.  The 
average  weekly  amount  of  benefits  paid  during  the  first  seven  months  of  1915  equalled 
only  30  per  cent,  of  the  average  weekly  amount  of  benefits  paid  the  first  seven  months 
of  1915.     These  data  covered  all  of  1914  prior  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  war. 

To  August  1,  1915,  applications  for  emergency  benefit  were  granted  to  185  unions 
with  284,297  members  and  to  the  amount  of  approximately  $410,000.1 

Voluntary  Insurance  with  Public  Subsidy 

State  Systems  of  Norzvay  and  Denmark 

Norway  and  Denmark  have  state  regulated  systems  of  voluntary 
unemployment  insurance  since  1906  and  1907.  The  Norway  Act  pro- 
vides for  payment  by  the  State  to  accredited  industrial  societies  (in 
practice  usually  trade  unions)  maintaining  unemployment  funds,  a  sub- 
sidy amounting  to  one-third  (amended  from  one-fourth)  of  the  annual 
amount  expended  in  unemployment  benefits.    Each  fund  makes  its  own 


*  Board  of  Trade  Labour  Gazette,  June,  1915. 
t  Board  of  Trade  Labour  Gazette,  August,  1915. 


73 


payments  to  the  insured,  receiving  the  subsidy  due  it  four  times  a  year. 
The  treasury  of  the  unemployment  funds  must  be  kept  separate  from 
all  other  funds  of  the  societies  claiming  subsidy.  At  least  one-half  of 
the  income  of  the  funds  must  consist  of  members'  dues.  The  insured 
must  have  been  a  member  for  six  months  before  becoming  eligible  to 
benefits.  After  three  days  "waiting  time"  he  is  thereupon  entitled  to 
benefit,  provided  he  cannot  secure  suitable  work  and  if  not  unemployed 
through  fault  or  labor  dispute.  The  maximum  benefit  is  one-half  of 
wages  and  the  maximum  period  is  ninety  days. 

The  societies  administering  unemployment  funds  must  admit  to  the 
funds  unorganized  workmen  in  the  industries  covered  by  the  funds,  but 
may  charge  such  members  from  10  per  cent,  to  25  per  cent,  higher  rates. 
This  section  was  bitterly  resented  by  the  unions  at  first  and  determined 
efforts  were  made  in  1908  to  secure  its  repeal.*  During  six  years  only 
one  non-union  man  has  applied  for  membership  in  any  fund. 

Twenty-seven  thousand  members,  about  one-half  of  the  organized 
workmen,  are  in  these  funds  (17  workmen's  and  2  employers').  Five 
unions,  with  1,681  members,  maintain  unemployment  funds  sep- 
arate from  the  subsidized  funds.  In  1912,  $39,091  was  paid  out  in  bene- 
fits, the  government's  share  being  $9,803.36. 

The  Denmark  system  of  unemployment  insurance  is  similar  to  that 
in  vogue  in  Norway  differing  from  the  latter  in  that  up  to  April  1,  1915, 
the  state  paid  a  subsidy  to  "recognized  unemployment  funds"  to  the 
amount  of  one-third  the  premiums  (instead  of  one-third  the  benefits) 
paid  by  members.  This  latter  method  was  preferred  because  it  per- 
mitted the  accumulation  of  a  reserve  in  good  times  to  be  used  in  times 
of  depression.  Local  communes  were  urged  to  contribute  to  unemploy- 
ment funds  to  the  extent,  up  to  April  1,  1915,  of  one-sixth  of  the  amounts 
paid  by  local  residents.  The  funds  are  required  as  in  Norway,  to  be  kept 
separate  from  all  other  funds  of  the  unions,  and  to  secure  one-half  of 
their  income  from  membership  dues. 

An  amendment  effective  April  1,  1915,  increased  the  amount  of  the 
state  subsidy  and  the  maximum  grant  which  might  be  made  by  local 
communes  to  unemployment  funds.  The  state  subsidy  was  increased 
to  one-half  and  the  maximum  communal  grant  to  one-third.  Require- 
ments for  membership  in  a  "recognized  unemployment  fund"  were 
changed  by  the  amendment  so  that  only  persons  "without  means"  can  be 
admitted.  This  phrase  is  interpreted  to  include  persons  who  own  prop- 
erty not  to  exceed  approximately  $1,350,  if  unmarried,  and  approximately 
$2,700  if  married.f 

The  new  law  provides  that  an  unemployment  society  may  form  a 
special  fund,  by  putting  aside  a  definite  proportion  of  the  premiums 
paid  by  members,  such  special  fund  to  be  applied  in  granting  benefits 
beyond  the  ordinary  period,  during  times  of  exceptional  unemployment. 


*  Katherine  Comau,  Survey,  March  14,  1914. 
t  Board  of  Trade  Labour  Gazette,  April,  1915. 


74 


The  special  benefit  is  to  be  paid  only  to  persons  belonging  to  a  trade 
which  is  declared  by  the  Minister  of  the  Interior  to  be  suffering  from 
exceptional  unemployment,  and  may  not  exceed,  during  a  year,  the  equi- 
valent of  daily  unemployed  pay  (an  amount  varying  from  13^  cents  to 
27  cents  per  diem)  for  seventy  days.  Societies  which  form  such  special 
funds  will  receive  a  further  subsidy  from  the  State  equal  to  half  the 
amount  set  aside.  The  total  of  all  State  contributions  to  Unemployment 
Societies,  however,  is  in  no  year  to  exceed  the  amount  of  the  total  sub- 
sidy to  be  granted  by  the  State  in  respect  of  the  financial  year  1913-1914, 
and  the  State  grant  to  the  special  funds,  must,  if  necessary,  be  propor- 
tionately reduced  or  wholly  withheld.  Communes  may  also  contribute 
to  the  special  funds  of  unemployment  societies  within  their  districts 
amounts  equal  to  one-third  of  the  total  contributions  of  full  members. 
The  insured  must  have  been  a  contributing  member  for  one  year, 
and  wait  three  days  before  becoming  eligible  to  benefit.  Then,  if  suit- 
able work  cannot  be  secured,  and  he  is  unemployed  without  fault,  and 
not  because  of  a  labor  dispute,  he  is  entitled  to  a  maximum  of  two-thirds 
of  normal  wages,  for  a  period  of  from  50  to  150  days.  In  no  case  may 
the  benefit  be  less  than  one-half  kroner  or  more  than  2  kroners  (14  cents 
to  55  cents). 

Up  to  March  31,  1914,  out  of  a  total  wage  earning  population  of  500,- 
000,  55  trade  unions,  practically  all  of  the  federated  trades,  with  a  mem- 
bership of  131,113  (about  60  per  cent,  of  those  entitled  to  be  insured) 
had  established  unemployment  funds  under  the  law.  This  membership 
included  about  73  per  cent,  of  the  insurable  men  and  28  per  cent,  of 
the  insurable  women  wage  earners.  The  men  not  insured  are  govern- 
ment employees  (on  the  railroads,  in  post  offices,  etc.)  not  subject  to 
hazards  of  unemployment,  and  agricultural  laborers.*  Denmark  is  dis- 
tinguished as  the  one  country  in  which  considerable  numbers  of  unskilled 
laborers  are  benefited  by  unemployment  insurance.  39,000  of  these  have 
been  organized  into  an  unskilled  laborers'  union.  The  members  of  this 
union  pay  10  kroner  ($2.75)  per  year  to  the  unemployed  fund  and  are 
entitled  to  from  one  to  one  and  a  half  kroner  (27  cents  to  40  cents)  a 
day  for  seventy  days  a  year.  In  1912  the  members  of  this  union  reported 
470,000  days  of  unemployment  of  which  379,000  were  compensated. 
There  is  also  a  union  of  3,000  unskilled  women  workers  (charwomen, 
etc.)  who  pay  $1.40  a  year  each  and  are  entitled  to  27  cents  a  day  for 
a  maximum  of  fifty  days  in  a  year.  In  1912  an  average  of  $1  per  mem- 
ber was  paid  in  unemployment  benefits. 

The  amounts  of  dues  and  conditions  of  benefit  vary  within  consid- 
erable limits  in  the  Denmark  system.  The  lowest  annual  dues  are  $1.40, 
paid  by  the  unskilled  workmen ;  the  highest  $7,  paid  by  the  workers  in 
stucco.     In  1912  benefits  amounted  to  $459,810,  of  which  the  workmen 


*  Katherine  Coman,  Survey,  March  14,  1914. 


75 


paid  53.8  per  cent.,  the  state  31.9  per  cent,  and  the  communes  14.3  per 
cent. 

For  the  year  ending  March  31,  1914,  benefits  were  granted  for 
1,372,945  days  of  unemployment,  an  average  of  about  11  days  per  mem- 
ber. Members'  contributions  formed  52  per  cent,  of  the  total  receipts 
of  the  funds,  while  state  subventions  amounted  to  30  per  cent,  and 
municipal  subventions  to  14  per  cent,  of  the  aggregate  receipts.  The 
cost  of  administration  equalled  12  per  cent,  of  the  total  expenditures  of 
over  $600,000. 

The  good  results  of  the  Danish  system  are  attributed  to  the  well 
organized  trade  unions,  the  previous  experience  of  the  Danish  work- 
men with  sickness  insurance,  and  the  excellent  spirit  of  mutual  helpful- 
ness and  co-operation  between  the  state,  the  communes,  the  unions  and 
the  public  generally. 

The  Ghent  System 

The  most  widely  known  system  of  voluntary  unemployment  insur- 
ance is  the  Ghent*  system,  dating  from  the  year  1901,  and  named  from 
the  Belgian  city  of  that  name.f  The  methods  existing  in  Norway 
and  Denmark  are  modifications  of  the  Ghent  system  but  with  legal  regu- 
lation of  state-wide  scope.  The  essence  of  the  Ghent  system  is  the  pay- 
ing of  a  subsidy  by  the  public  authorities^  to  the  unemployed  as  an 
addition  to  the  benefit  which  they  receive  from  a  trade  union,  benefit 
association  or  savings  fund.  In  practice  this  amounts  to  the  payment 
of  a  subsidy  to  the  trade  unions  paying  unemployment  benefits,  as  very 
few  provident  societies  have  been  developed  under  the  system.  The 
strength  of  the  Ghent  system  lies  in  its  simplicity  of  structure  and 
method.  It  takes  advantage  of  existing  organizations  already  paying 
out-of-work  benefits  or  easily  capable  of  administering  them.  The  bene- 
ficiaries are  consequently  well  known  to  each  other.  Fraud  and  malinger- 
ing can  be  more  readily  checked  than  in  a  more  general  scheme.  This 
system  with  modifications  has  been  introduced  into  most  of  the  cities 
and  provinces  of  Belgium,  into  25  cities  in  Holland,  20  in  France,  10  in 
Germany,  3  in  Italy  and  2  in  Switzerland.  The  Belgium  national  sub- 
sidy, the  schemes  in  five  or  six  Swiss  cantons,  and  the  French,  Nor- 
wegian and  Danish  systems  have  grown  out  of  the  Ghent  system. 

The  system,  as  a  purely  voluntary  plan,  has  had  its  greatest  success 
in  the  Belgian  cities.  In  France  it  may  be  said  to  have  failed  to  enlist 
the  allegiance  of  the  industrial  population,  where  the  100,000  francs  sub- 
sidy set  aside  by  the  State  has  never  been  fully  utilized.  The  weakness 
of  the  Ghent  system  is  that  it  has  not  reached  the  largest  percentage  of 


♦Sec  I.  G.  Gibbon,  "Unemployment  Insurance,"  P.  S.  King  Co.,  London,  1911,  for  best  discussion  of 
Ghent  system. 

t  Municipal  subvention  of  trade  union  insurance  against  unemployment,  commonly  supposed  to  have 
originated  in  Ghent,  has  been  practiced  since  1806  in  Limoges  and  Dijon,  France.  See  Coman,  Unemployment 
Insurance,  Progressive  National  Service,  p.  10. 

t  Sixty  per  cent,  is  paid  in  Ghent. 

76 


the  workmen  who  are  most  in  need  of  insurance,  nor  has  it  served 
very  largely  to  increase-  the  membership  of  trade  unions  utilizing  it. 

A  modification  of  the  Ghent  system,  that  of  Cologne,  requires  pay- 
ment from  the  unions  in  return  for  subsidization.  In  1914  it  re-insured 
25  societies  with  11,105  members. 

The  principle  of  utilizing  the  machinery  of  existing  industrial  or- 
ganizations like  the  trade  unions  is  one  that  has  been  recognized  in  all 
recent  legislation  as  to  unemployment  insurance.  The  compulsory  act 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  voluntary  subsidized  schemes  of  Norway  and 
Denmark,  the  Ghent  system  in  France,  Belgium,  Holland,  Switzerland, 
Italy,  Luxemburg  and  the  municipal  and  communal  subsidies  to  trade 
unions,  saving  societies,  individual  savers  and  the  like,  employ  existing 
organizations  for  the   administration  of  unemployment  funds. 

An  important  factor  in  the  administrative  workings  of  unemploy- 
ment insurance  schemes  is  the  co-ordinate  development  of  public  em- 
ployment bureaus.  The  most  successful  European  schemes  are  admin- 
istered through  these  bureaus  which  serve  at  once  as  a  medium  through 
which  the  unemployed  may  secure  work  and  as  the  best  means  to  pre- 
vent fraud.  A  comprehensive  plan  like  that  of  Great  Britain  is  depend- 
ent upon  the  labor  exchanges  and  is  of  course  greatly  helped  by  the 
co-operation  of  the  trade  unions. 


Relief  Measures 

Summary  of  Typical  Relief  Measures 

Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  rapid  development  of  organized 
charity  has  created  recognized  standards  of  relief,  wide-spread  unem- 
ployment presents  relief  problems  which  tax  the  wisdom,  ingenuity  and 
financial  ability  of  the  best  organized  communities.  The  reason  is  not 
far  to  seek.  Family  support  by  the  earnings  of  its  adult  members  is 
a  normal  condition.  Relief  made  necessary  by  the  ordinary  misfortunes 
of  life,  exclusive  of  unemployment,  imposes  burdens  sufficiently  onerous 
for  ordinary  relief  measures.  To  "rehabilitate"  the  family  in  which  there 
is  an  able-bodied  man  for  whom  work  cannot  be  found,  is  so  far  a  depart- 
ure from  the  normal  demands  on  relief  agencies  as  to  be  a  matter  of 
serious  difficulty. 

The  natural  steps,  if  employment  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  ordinary 
way,  is  to  attempt  to  create  work,  in  order,  first,  to  afford  a  work  test, 
and  second,  to  provide  an  opportunity  for  income  without  lowering  the 
family  standards  of  self-respect  and  self-reliance.  This  difficult  task  has 
led  to  expedients  which,  because  they  deviate  from  the  normal  means  of 
employment,  have  been  the  subject  of  controversy  as  to  the  measure  of 
good  accomplished.  The  reply  of  the  experimenters  to  their  critics  is 
usually  that  it  is  better,  regardless  of  the  economic  value  of  the  work- 
performed,  to  give  men  work  than  to  support  them  in  idleness. 

77 


An  increasing  use  has  been  made  of  public  employment,  usually  at 
the  most  unskilled  kind  of  labor,  in  times  of  exceptional  unemployment. 
From  50  to  60  cities  are  known  to  have  opened  up  opportunities  for  em- 
ployment out  of  public  funds  during  the  winter  of  1914-1915.  In  some 
instances  private  organizations  have  financially  supported  public  work. 
Two  of  the  best  illustrations  of  this  co-operation  were  the  employment 
of  men  in  New  York  City  by  the  Association  for  Improving  the  Condi- 
tion of  the  Poor  in  co-operation  with  public  departments,  and  by  the 
associated  charities  and  public  departments  in  Duluth,  Minnesota. 

In  New  York  men  were  employed  in  clearing  land,  trenching,  grad- 
ing and  road  making  on  the  grounds  of  the  Botanical  Gardens  and  the 
Zoological  Museum.  The  men  selected  by  the  Association  were  hired, 
supervised  and  dismissed  by  the  superintendent  in  charge  of  the  work 
in  the  ordinary  way.  No  partiality  was  shown,  the  only  consideration 
being  their  ability  and  willingness  to  do  the  work.  The  men  were  paid 
two  dollars  per  day  for  an  eight  hour  day,  three  days  per  week  being 
allowed  for  each  man.  They  were  paid  through  the  authorities  in  charge 
of  the  work.  In  the  "Survey"  for  June  12th,  1915,  Mr.  William  H. 
Matthews  sums  up  the  record  of  the  men  as  follows : 

231  men  were  offered  work. 

83,  36  per  cent.,  worked  every  day  allotted. 

30  refused  or  failed  to  report  (5  refused,  25  failed.) 

4  quit  after  one  day's  trial  ("did  not  like  the  work.") 

30  quit  after  several  days'  trial  (16  no  reason,  14  "going  after  another 

job.") 

12  laid  off,  physical  disability. 

6  discharged,  loafing  or  intemperance. 

4  taken  on  permanent  pay  roll  of  Park  Department. 

22  reported  had  secured  work  elsewhere. 

18  placed  by  A.  I.  C.  P.  employment  bureau. 

17  refused  other  jobs  offered  and  were  laid  off. 

In  Duluth,  for  several  winters  an  arrangement  has  been  made  be- 
tween the  Associated  Charities  and  public  authorities  by  which  men 
(usually  homeless  men,  transients,  seasonal  and  casual  workers)  were 
employed  in  cutting  through  a  wall  of  rock  which  intercepted  the  growth 
of  Duluth's  main  thoroughfare.  Wages  were  fixed  at  a  little  below  the 
current  rate  for  unskilled  labor  and  were  paid  in  orders  on  the  Asso- 
ciated Charities  for  food,  lodging,  clothing,  railroad  tickets,  etc.  The 
skilled  work,  blasting  and  drilling,  was  done  by  the  regular  employees 
of  the  City.  The  preparation  of  the  rock  for  the  crusher  was  performed 
by  the  unemployed  men.  The  City's  foremen  hired  and  discharged  the 
men.  During  the  first  year,  1911,  only  11  out  of  300  had  to  be  discharged. 
During  the  second  year  a  much  larger  percentage  refused  to  accept  the 
work.  Mr.  W.  M.  Leiserson  in  reporting  in  the  "Survey"  of  Septem- 
ber 20,  1913,  says: 


"The  weakness  of  the  experiment  in  Duluth  is  that  it  is  too  intimately  con- 
nected with  a  charitable  organization.  The  laborers  are  not  given  the  money 
they  earn  but  are  paid  in  orders  on  the  Associated  Charities  for  food,  lodging, 
clothing,  railroad  tickets,  etc.  Men  who  earn  their  way  and  who  might  otherwise 
never  become  subjects  of  relief  thus  are  compelled  first  to  apply  to  the  charitable 
society  for  work  and  then  to  get  their  pay  through  it.  Self-respecting  men  might 
be  humiliated  and  there  is  danger  of  undermining  that  self  respect.  Despite  this 
objection  the  rock  pile  has  more  than  justified  itself." 

In  Portland,  Oregon,  the  city  expended  about  $75,000  furnishing 
work  and  caring  for  the  unemployed.*  The  city  maintained  three  camps 
for  cutting  cord  wood.  Payment  was  made  at  a  piece  work  rate  of 
ninety  and  ninety-five  cents  per  cord.  The  average  efficiency  of  the 
men  was  estimated  to  be  about  fifty  per  cent,  of  experienced  wood-cut- 
ters. $4,500  was  appropriated  to  two  public  departments  for  the  employ- 
ment of  married  men,  residents  of  Portland,  in  the  parks  and  clearing 
gulches.  These  men  were  paid  $3  per  day  of  eight  hours.  One  depart- 
ment gave  the  men  four  days  work  each,  the  other  employed  twenty-five 
men  for  one  month  each,  and  ten  men  for  about  a  week  each.  The  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Affairsy  estimates  the  net  loss  to  the  city  (the  ex- 
penditures minus  the  value  of  the  work  or  product)  to  be  from  $9,825 
to  $14,825,  depending  upon  the  marketability  of  wood  unsold  at  the 
time  his  report  was  made  (June  30,  1915.) 

The  most  radical  proposal  yet  put  forward  in  any  American  state 
for  employing  the  unemployed  on  public  work  is  embodied  in  a  measure 
passed  by  the  Idaho  legislature  during  its  1915  session.  In  that  state, 
the  county  commissioners  are  required  to  furnish  emergency  employ- 
ment for  a  period  not  exceeding  two  months  each  year  to  any  citizen 
resident  in  the  state  for  an  uninterrupted  period  of  six  months  and  in 
the  county  for  ninety  days,  provided  such  person  is  unable  to  find  em- 
ployment and  does  not  possess  negotiable  real  or  personal  property  of  a 
total  value  of  more  than  $1,000.$  The  county  commissioners  fix  the 
compensation  to  be  paid,  the  applicant  on  his  part  agreeing  to  perform 
the  labor  to  which  he  is  assigned.  Failure  to  perform  work  so  assigned 
may  result  in  suspension  for  the  first  offense  and  disqualification  for 
the  second  offense. 

The  funds  for  this  emergency  employment  are  to  be  supplied  from 
the  county  treasurer's  current  expense  fund,  and  are  to  be  deducted,  50 
per  cent,  annually,  from  the  sum  of  the  general  taxes  collectible  by  the 
state  from  the  county. 


*  A  little  less  than  |4,000  of  this  amount  was  expended  by  the  Citizens'  Employment  Committee  in 
conducting  a  lodging  home  and  wood  yard. 

t  Report  on  the  Problem  of  the  Unemployed  During  the  Winter  of  1914-15,  by  Wm.  L.  Brewster,  Com- 
missioner of  Public  Affairs,  Portland,  Oregon. 

t  No  report  has  been  made  as  to  the  expenditure  of  any  funds  for  the  employment  of  the  unemployed 
under  this  act.  (On  going  to  press  for  a  second  edition  of  this  report,  we  learn  that  the  Idaho  Supreme 
Court  on  January  8,  1916,  declared  the  act  unconstitutional  on  technical  grounds.) 

79 


Experiences  of  a  Few  Typical  Cities  in  Unemployed  Relief  Work 

The  most  significant  fact  about  recent  measures  for  the  relief  of  the 
unemployed  is  the  general  dissatisfaction  with  large  central  relief  funds. 

The  following  are  a  few  typical  experiences  of  cities  which  took 
steps  to  ameliorate  unemployment  conditions : 

CLEVELAND* 

Employers  were  asked  to  give  work  for  five  hours  a  day  at  \7y2  cents  an  hour. 

1,310  jobs  were  offered.     The  Committee  reports  that  few  declined  to  work.f 
400  unemployed  were  given  work  in  public  parks  and  paid  with  funds  raised  by  pri- 
vate subscription  at  the  rate  of  $2  per  day  for  an  eight  hour  day  three  days 

per  week. 
500  men  were  put  to  work  by  the  City  authorities  through  anticipating  excavating 

work  that  in  the  ordinary  course  would  have  been  done  in  the  spring. 
5,160  jobs  were  secured  through  the  City  and  State  Employment  Bureaus. 
"Share  a  Day's   Earnings"  appeal  for  funds  was  made  on  February  4th  which 

raised  $81,000. 
Sewing  rooms  for  women  were  also  provided  in  which  women  were  paid  $1  per 

day  for  an  eight  hour  day,  three  days  per  week.     80  women  were  employed 

for  two  months. 

BOSTON 

Workrooms  were  established  for  men  and  women  similar  to  those  established 
in  New  York.    Men  were  employed  cleaning  alleys  and  collecting  and  assorting  paper. 

SAN  FRANCISCOt 

Through  the  activities  of  the  Commonwealth  Club,  a  relief  program  was  mapped 
out.  Private  funds  were  raised  with  great  difficulty.  Road  work  at  20  cents  per 
hour  was  offered.  The  duration  of  the  employment  was  in  proportion  to  the  size 
of  the  applicant's  family.  The  City  appropriated  $15,000  to  provide  lodging  and  food 
for  migratory  workers. 

MINNEAPOLIS^ 

Through  the  co-operation  of  the  Associated  Charities  and  the  Park  Board  a  tract 
of  land  along  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi  which  was  later  to  be  flooded,  was  cleared 
of  standing  timber.  344  men  were  employed  for  a  total  of  2,233  days.  71  men  refused 
work  when  offered.  881  cords  of  wood  were  cut  at  an  average  cost  of  $6.99  a  cord. 
For  the  first  three  weeks  only  12  men  were  at  work.  The  Committee  reported  that 
other  men  followed  when  they  realized  that  no  other  work  would  be  provided.  The 
largest  number  at  work  on  any  one  day  was  87.  Work  was  carried  on  from  Decem- 
ber 14th  to  March  10th.  The  average  pay  was  20  cents  an  hour  for  an  eight  hour 
day  for  three  days'  work  each  week.  During  the  progress  of  the  work,  owing  to 
the  dissatisfaction  with  results  accomplished,  the  men  were  put  on  a  piece  work  basis. 
The  cost  per  cord  dropped  to  $2.63  and  the  percentage  of  men  refusing  work  doubled. 
Mr.  Frank  J.  Bruno,  Secretary  of  the  Associated  Charities  of  Minneapolis,  makes 
the  following  comment  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  relief  work  upon  the  men : 

"When  men  know  that  their  families  had  to  be  supported  whether  they  got 
on  the  job  at  8  or  9  in  the  morning,  there  was  little  incentive  to  prompt  reporting 
for  work.  Furthermore,  it  resulted  in  a  discouragingly  large  proportion  of  men 
shirking  their  tasks  except  at  such  times  as  the  overseer's  eyes  were  upon  them. 


♦Survey,  August  14,  1915. 
t  Ibid. 

t  Survey,  August  2S,  1915. 
§  Survey,  August  14,  1915. 


80 


.  .  .  When  extra  clothing  was  supplied  to  the  men  it  was  taken  unblushingly 
by  some.  When  called  to  account  for  it  they  seemed  to  have  no  conception  that 
they  were  stealing.*  Tools  had  a  mysterious  way  of  disappearing.  Axes  were 
cut  from  their  handles  and  thrown  into  the  river.  Steel  wedges  were  buried  out 
of  sight  and  then  industriously  sought  for  hours,  and  so  little  consideration  was 
shown  for  the  upkeep  of  the  tools  that  the  supply  was  wasted  and  had  to  be  too 
often  replenished.  .  .  .  We  noticed  this  winter,  although  the  lumber  trade 
was  very  poor  and  that  not  anything  like  the  ordinary  number  of  men  were 
working  in  the  woods,  yet  very  few  lumber  jacks  were  among  our  applicants  for 
relief." 

PHILADELPHIA^ 

$100,000  was  appropriated  by  the  city  government,  to  be  expended  through  the 
Department  of  Public  Health  and  Charities  by  the  "Emergency  Aid  Committee"  for 
the  employment  of  the  unemployed.  Additional  funds  were  raised  by  public  sub- 
scription on  "Self-Sacrifice  Day"  and  through  individual  contributions. 

2,046  men  were  given  temporary  work  seven  hours  a  day  at  $1.20  per  day  from 
February  23  to  June  6,  1915.  They  were  employed  in  grading,  seeding  and  sodding 
park  grounds,  clearing  trees  of  the  tussock  moth,  planting  and  pruning  shrubs  and 
trees,  making  park  benches  and  rustic  bridges,  laying  pipe,  draining  and  clearing  play 
grounds  and  vacant  lots,  painting  and  repairing  roofs,  furniture  and  woodwork  in 
public  hospitals,  and  in  repairing  and  renovating  two  hundred  houses  (which  would 
not  have  been  repaired  and  renovated  at  that  time),  for  the  Octavia  Hill  Association. 

Experience  of  Great  Britain 

British  Unemployed  Workmen  Act 

The  most  comprehensive  plans  of  relief  employment  are  those  in 
vogue  in  Great  Britain. 

The  Unemployed  Workmen  Act  was  passed  in  1905.  It  established 
Distress  Committees  for  each  municipal  and  urban  district  of  10,000  or 
more.  The  Act  resulted  in  127  of  these  committees  being  established, 
98  in  the  United  Kingdom  outside  of  London  and  29  in  London  itself. 
In  London  the  Act  was  administered  by  the  Central  Unemployed  Body 
which  supervised  the  operations  of  the  20  Distress  Committees  with 
power  to  operate  on  its  own  account. 

The  chief  provisions  of  the  Unemployed  Workmen  Act  are  that 
assistance  may  be  rendered  to  the  unemployed,  either  in  the  form  of 
assisting  them  to  secure  work  through  the  labor  exchanges,  or  by  pro- 
viding or  contributing  toward  the  provision  of  temporary  work  "in  such 
manner  as  they  think  best  calculated  to  put  the  unemployed  in  a  position 
to  obtain  regular  work  or  other  means  of  support."  The  Act  further 
provides  that  the  administrators  of  the  Act  may  establish  farm  colonies 
and  provide  accommodations  for  the  unemployed,  or  may  aid  in  the  emi- 
gration or  removal  to  another  area  of  an  unemployed  person  and  his 
dependents. 

By  the  operation  of  the  Labor  Exchanges  Act  of  1908  the  labor  ex- 
changes formerly  managed  under  the  Unemployed  Workmen  Act  were 


*  This  stricture  seems  on  the  face  of  it  questionable. 

t  Special  Report,  Emergency  Aid  Committee,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 


81 


taken  over  by  the  Board  of  Trade.  From  eighteen  to  twenty-five  of 
these  had  been  established  in  London  up  to  1908  by  the  Central  Unem- 
ployed Body. 

The  Distress  Committees  are  required  "to  acquaint  themselves  with 
the  conditions  of  labor  in  their  area  and  to  receive,  investigate  and  dis- 
criminate between  applications  made  to  them  from  persons  unemployed." 
The  object  of  the  Act  was  to  give  employment  to  men  who  were  tempor- 
arily out  of  work  and  to  save  them  from  appealing  to  the  poor  law  offi- 
cials for  relief.  "Preference  is  to  be  given  to  applicants  who  have  in 
the  past  been  regularly  employed,  who  have  been  well  conducted  and 
thrifty,  who  have  at  the  time  of  application  a  wife,  child,  or  other  depend- 
ent, and  who,  in  respect  of  their  age  and  physical  condition,  are  qualified 
for  such  work  as  the  Distress  Committee  may  be  able  to  obtain." 

Work  provided  must  be  of  "actual  and  substantial  utility  and  must 
afford  continuous  occupation  for  the  person  employed."  The  total  re- 
muneration in  the  beginning  was  restricted  to  an  amount  "less  than  that 
which  would  under  ordinary  circumstances  be  earned  by  an  unskilled 
laborer  for  continuous  work  during  the  same  period."  In  practice  the 
rate  of  pay  soon  became  that  of  the  ordinary  rate  of  pay  of  the  district. 
Where  it  was  desired  to  limit  the  amount  to  be  earned  this  was  accomp- 
lished by  restrictions  on  the  length  of  time  employed.  Sixteen  weeks 
was  fixed  as  the  maximum  for  which  any  person  could  be  employed 
during  one  year.  It  was  contemplated  in  the  beginning  that  funds  would 
come  from  the  Imperial  Exchequer,  from  local  authorities  and  from 
voluntary  contributions.  After  1905  the  amount  received  from  private 
sources  was  negligible. 

The  workings  of  the  Act  have  been  reviewed  and  subjected  to  crit- 
ical analysis  (up  to  1909)  by  the  New  York  State  Commission  on  Unem- 
ployment, the  British  Poor  Law  Commission,  and  by  W.  H.  Beveridge.* 

The  New  York  State  Commission  sums  up  the  results  of  its  study 
as  follows : 

"The  officials  who  are  carrying  on  the  work  under  the  Unemployed  Workman 
Act  are  quite  frank  in  confessing  the  failure  of  the  law  in  all  things  they  set  out 
to  do,  except  the  Labor  Exchanges.!  .  .  .  Temporary  relief  works,  we  are  told 
are  useless  as  a  permanent  remedy  for  unemployment.  The  same  men  return  year 
after  year  to  the  Distress  Committees  for  employment.  The  work  they  do  is  never 
satisfactory.  What  is  needed  is  work  under  the  ordinary  conditions  of  employment, 
and  the  Central  (Unemployed)  Body  are  unable  to  offer  either  the  proper  sort  of 
work  or  the  proper  amount  of  it. 

"Relief  works  fail  to  attract  the  best  type  of  the  unemployed.  The  deserving 
strong,  useful  workman,  temporarily  out  of  work,  for  whom  the  Act  was  undoubtedly 
passed,  are  not  reached.  For  the  most  part  the  operations  reach  only  those  deficient 
in  physique  or  capacity  to  work.  Colony  work  (the  most  hopeful  type  provided)  the 
Central    Body    reports    can   not   be   made    of    real    permanent    benefit    unless    special 


*  "Unemployment  and  Farm  Labor,"  Appendix  II,  N.  Y.  State  Commission  on  Employer's  Liability, 
etc.,  pp.  70-82;  Royal  Commission  on  the  Poor  Laws,  1909.  Majority  Report,  Vol.  I,  pp.  484-504,  Minority 
Report,  pp.    529-567;  W.  H.  Beveridge,  "Unemployment — a  Problem  of  Industry,"  pp.  154-191. 

t  Taken  over  by  Board  of  Trade  under  Labor  Exchanges  Act,  1909. 

82 


colonies  are  provided  for  different  classes  of  men,  and  an  outlet  for  those  who  are 
trained." 

Beveridge  sums  up  his  analysis  of  the  Act  as  follows : 
"Its  authors  had  clearly  before  them  the  fact  of  cyclical  fluctuations  as  shown 
by  the  the  trade  union  returns — the  unemployed  percentage  rising  from  its  minimum 
of  2  or  3  to  7  or  more  and  returning  to  the  minimum  again.  They  aimed  at  providing 
a  temporary  refuge  for  the  5  per  cent,  or  so  of  men  thus  exceptionally  displaced ; 
.  .  .  .  They  viewed  trade  depression,  in  fact,  as  a  chasm  through  which  men 
might  slip  to  the  abyss  of  chronic  pauperism  below  and  they  wish  to  construct  across 
it  a  bridge  of  temporary  relief." 

"In  fact  they  have  not  been  able  to  carry  out  any  part  of  this  policy.  The  con- 
struction of  the  bridge  has  not  been  limited  to  times  of  exceptional  depression  nor 
its  use  to  men  exceptionally  unemployed ;  it  has  not  been  made  less  attractive  than 
ordinary  labor,  and  it  has  not  been  made  long  enough  to  land  men  on  the  firm  ground 

of  regular  work  once  more Its  authors  correctly  appreciated  the  fact  of 

cyclical  fluctuations  in  the  demand  for  labor.  They  took  no  account  of  the  irregular- 
ity of  unemployment  which  in  good  times  and  bad  times  alike  is  a  normal  feature 
throughout  so  large  a  part  of  industry*  Yet  this  is  the  one  fact  which  by  itself  makes 
the  whole  policy  of  the  Act  unworkable.  The  characteristic  and  conspicuous  result 
of  trade  depression  is,  not  to  reduce  to  destitution  men  formerly  in  regular  employ- 
ment (though  no  doubt  this  also  happens  to  some  extent),  but  to  precipitate  into  dis- 
tress men  who  are  always  on  its  verge  * 

The  British  Poor  Law  Commission  made  a  comprehensive  study, 
not  alone  of  the  workings  of  the  Unemployed  Workmen  Act,  and  relief 
works  under  it,  but  of  the  various  relief  works  which  had  been  conducted 
by  private  philanthropy  and  public  authority.  Both  the  majority  and 
minority  reports  condemned  relief  works  as  a  means  of  checking  unem- 
ployment. The  minority,  however,  protested  against  the  repeal  of  the 
Unemployed  Workmen  Act  and  the  discontinuance  of  the  relief  works 
under  it  unless  and  until  some  more  acceptable  substitute  for  the  hated 
"Poor  Law"  was  provided. 

The  following  extracts  from  the  Minority  Report  serve  to  define 
the  objections  to  relief  works  on  the  part  of  the  drafters  of  the  report 
(and  the  majority  as  well)  : 

"But  even  in  the  most  suitable  of  occupations,  the  atmosphere  of  Municipal 
Works,  whenever  men  are  taken  on  because  they  are  unemployed,  and  are  not 
picked  out  and  engaged  at  wages  in  the  ordinary  way  because  they  are  the  best 
available  men  to  execute  a  task  that  is  required  for  its  own  sake,  was  invariably 
found  to  be  enervating  and  demoralizing.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  put 
forth  one's  full  strength  in  work  which  is  different  from  that  to  which  one  has 
been  accustomed,  and  which  is  known  to  have  been  artificially  created  more  as  a 
means  of  occupying  the  men  than  for  its  urgency;  in  an  employment,  moreover, 
from  which  dismissal  is  practically  impossible.! 

"All  these  objections  to  the  relief  of  the  Unemployed  by  means  of  Municipal 
Employment — cumulative  in  their  force — still  leave  unstated  what  seems  to  us 
the  most  fundamental  of  all.     In  the  following  chapter  on  'The  Distress  from 


*  Not  italicized  in  original. 

t  "The  men  generally  will  not  put  their  best  into  the  work,"  deposed  one  witness.  "This  is  largely  due 
to  the  knowledge  that  having  been  engaged,  not  because  their  services  were  required,  but  because  they  were 
out  of  work,  they  are  not  likely,  therefore,  to  be  discharged."  (Evidence  before  the  Commission,  Appendix 
No.  LII  to  Vol.  VIII,  Par.  17  (b).) 

83 


Unemployment  as  it  Exists  Today'  we  shall  show  that  the  problem  before  the 
country  is  only  in  exceptional  circumstances  and  only  to  a  small  extent  that  of 
providing  for  the  man  who  has  temporarily  fallen  out  of  continuous  employment 
at  weekly  wages,  and  who  has  to  be  tided  over  the  interval  between  one  such 
regular  situation  and  the  next  one.  Such  a  man  would  present,  as  we  shall  see, 
comparatively  little  difficulty  if  he  stood  by  himself.  What  is  more  formidable 
is  the  fact  that  large  sections  of  the  population  in  most  of  the  big  cities  are  in  a 
chronic  state  of  wider-employment ,  /;;  which  they  get  only  a  few  days'  work  per 
week,  and  in  bad  tinies  only  a  few  days'  work  per  month. 

"Looking  back  on  the  whole  twenty  years'  experience  of  the  provision  of 
Municipal  Employment,  it  is  fundamentally  to  this  existence  of  large  sections  of 
the  working-class  population  at  all  times  in  a  state  of  chronic  under-employment 
that  must  be  attributed  the  failure  of  Mr.  Chamberlain's  suggestion  of  using  Local 
Authorities  to  tide  over  periods  of  exceptional  distress.  If  Able-bodied  Destitu- 
tion were  limited  to  men,  whether  skilled  or  unskilled,  who  had  lost  definite  situa- 
tions, and  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  get  into  definite  situations  again  when 
the  emergency  had  passed  away — whether  their  loss  of  employment  was  due  to 
some  such  catastrophe  as  the  bankruptcy  of  an  employer  or  a  fire,  or  to  some 
dislocation  through  war  or  a  commercial  crisis — Municipal  works  would  be  a 
feasible  way  of  getting  over  the  difficulty. 

"//  adequate  provision  were  made  in  sonic  other  way  for  the  casual  labourers 
in  chronic  Under-employment,  it  is  conceivable  that  the  Municipal  Authorities 
might  successfully  find  work  for  the  limited  number  of  men  whom  some  indus- 
trial dislocation  had  temporarily  deprived  of  regular  situations,  and  who  needed 
only  to  be  tided  over  until  they  got  into  regular  situations  again.  Even  then, 
the  question  arises  whether,  if  financial  considerations  alone  were  regarded,  it 
would  not  be  found  to  be  cheaper  to  give  the  men  their  wages  without  allowing 
them  to  spoil  the  material,  wastefully  use  the  plant  and  necessitate  the  engagement 
of  foremen  and  overlookers,  for  the  execution  of  real  work,  possibly  not  unde- 
sirable in  itself,  but  of  no  real  commercial  value.  In  short,  we  are  obliged  to 
conclude,  with  the  committee  of  the  Norwich  Town  Council,  that  'the  work  on  the 
whole  has  been  unsatisfactory,  and  the  payments  in  some  cases  are  scarcely  worth 
calling  payments  for  work,  but  merely  a  mask  for  charity.'  "* 

The  Minority  Report  concludes  (in  part)  as  to  relief  works  for  the 
unemployed : 

"...  It  (The  Unemployed  Workmen  Act)  has  demonstrated  that,  as  a 
method  for  providing  for  chronic  Unemployment  or  Under-employment,  the  pro- 
vision of  work  at  wages  by  Local  Authorities  affords  no  remedy  and  tends  even 
to  intensify  the  evil. 

"That  work  at  wages,  given  to  the  Unemployed  by  Local  Authorities  for  a 
few  days  or  a  few  weeks  at  a  time,  tends,  like  the  opening  of  a  Labour  Yard  by 
the  Board  of  Guardians  (Relief  Authorities),  actually  to  promote  the  disastrous 
Under-employment  characteristic  of  some  industries,  and  positively  encourages 
employers  and  employed  to  acquiesce  in  intermittent  employment  and  casual  jobs, 
instead  of  regular  work  at  definite  weekly  wages. 

"That  one  of  the  most  promising  of  these  experiments — the  provision  of 
Rural  Colonies  where  the  Unemployed  could  be  trained  with  a  view  to  their 
permanent  re-establishment  as  self-supporting  citizens, ~\  whether  on  the  land  or 
otherwise,  in  England  or  elsewhere — has  been  tried  at  the  Hollesley  Bay  Farm 
Colony,  with  a  considerable  measure  of  success.  Unfortunately,  as  it  seems  to  us, 
the  Local  Government  Board  for  England  and  Wales  now  insists  on  regarding  this 


*  Minority  Report  —  Royal  Commission  on  the  Poor  Laws,  1909,  pp.  540-541,  inc. 
t  Not  italicized  in  original. 

84 


Farm  Colony  only  as  a  means  of  affording  temporary  relief  and  not  as  a  means 
of  training  men  for  future  self-support;  and  refuses  to  permit  any  further  ex- 
penditure for  the  purpose  of  permanently  establishing  even  those  men  who  have 
been  selected  and  trained." 

The  Minority  report  in  its  recommendations  for  the  solution  of  the 
problem  presented  by  its  analysis  of  the  causes  of  unemployment,  empha- 
sizes the  necessity  for  training  the  unskilled  among  the  unemployed.  It 
proposes  that,  instead  of  employing  men  on  relief  works,  the  State  pro- 
vide suitable  physical  and  industrial  training  in  colonies  and  local  train- 
ing establishments  for  casual  and  unskilled  laborers  applying  to  distress 
committees.  In  consideration  of  regular  attendance  and  submission  to 
the  necessary  discipline  and  training,  the  families  of  the  men  were  to  be 
given  an  adequate  allowance  for  maintenance  without  recourse  to  the 
"Poor  Law."* 

Relief  Works  Under  the  Unemployed  Workmen  Act 

Relief  works  under  the  British  Unemployed  Workmen  Act  continue 
in  effect.  For  the  fiscal  year  ending  March  31st,  1913,  a  year  of  good 
employment,  72  of  the  127  Distress  Committees  working  under  the  Act 
were  active.  Twenty-nine  of  these  were  in  London  and  43  in  the  prov- 
inces. 43,381  applications  (16,146  in  London  and  27,235  in  the  provinces) 
were  made  for  employment  under  the  Act.  30,662  (7,823  in  London  and 
22,839  in  the  provinces)  were  accepted  and  qualified.  These,  together 
with  their  dependents,  amounted  to  10  per  1,000  of  population.  For  the 
fiscal  years  1911-1912  the  proportion  accepted  and  qualified  under  the 
Act  was  12  per  1,000  population  and  in  1910-1911,  15  per  1,000. 

The  ages  of  those  accepted  and  qualified  show  that  old  age  had  little 
to  do  with  the  necessity  for  applications  to  Distress  Committees.  Over 
58  per  cent,  of  the  London  applicants  were  under  40  years  and  more 
than  85  per  cent,  were  under  50  years  of  age.  The  proportions  for 
London  and  the  provinces  together  were  51.6  per  cent,  and  77.6  per  cent., 
respectively,  for  the  two  age  periods  mentioned.  About  three-quarters 
of  the  applicants  were  general  or  casual  laborers,  workmen  in  transpor- 
tation and  the  building  trades.  The  following  show  that  approximately 
one-half  of  the  applicants  reapplied  to  the  Committees  : 

1912  to  1913 44% 

1911  to  1912 47% 

1910  to  1911 54% 

The  average  payment  for  work  was  6d.  an  hour  during  employment, 
which  lasted  from  a  few  days  to  nine  weeks. 

The  West  Ham  Farm  Colony  of  204  acres  employed  and  housed 
263  persons  for  an  average  of  15}4  days  work  per  person.     The  average 


*  This  plan  was  put  into  practice  in  England  for  young  girls  displaced  because  of  the  war.  Report  of 
Central  Committee  on  Women's  Employment,  Cd.  7848.  See  also,  "Training  Classes  for  Unemployed  Girls," 
p.  30. 

85 


allowance  to  families  was  14s.  per  week.  The  expenditures  of  this 
Colony  was  £7,118.    The  proceeds  of  the  work  aggregated  £3,323.* 

The  Hollesley  Bay  Colony  maintained  by  the  Central  Unemployed 
Body  of  London  employed  1,168  men  for  an  average  of  nine  weeks  each. 
The  daily  average  number  employed  in  January  was  222.  Wages  includ- 
ing allowance  to  families  amounted  to  an  equivalent  of  25s.  weekly. 
Expenditures  aggregated  £27,561,  the  proceeds  being  £10,643.* 

Men  in  the  colonies  are  given  board  and  lodging  and  6d.  per  week 
for  themselves.  Their  families  are  provided  with  an  allowance  not  to 
exceed  17s.  6d.,  varying  with  the  number  of  children  under  14.  3,544 
individuals  were  assisted  to  migrate  during  the  year,  the  majority 
migrating  to  Australia  and  Canada. 

Central  Unemployed  Body  for  London 

The  work  of  the  Central  Unemployed  Body  for  London  which 
administers  the  Unemployed  Workmen  Act  for  that  City  has  previously 
been  referred  to  in  the  criticisms  made  by  the  New  York  Commission 
on  Unemployment,  by  W.  H.  Beveridge,  and  by  the  British  Poor  Law 
Commission.  The  eighth  report  of  the  Central  Body  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30th,  1914,  gives  a  lucid  account  of  the  work  of  the  year 
with  comparisons  of  previous  years.  The  report  shows  that  a  remark- 
ably prosperous  condition  of  industry  existed  throughout  the  greater 
part  of  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1914. 

The  following  table  shows  the  percentage  of  recurring  applications. 
It  will  be  seen  that  in  London,  as  well  as  in  the  country  as  a  whole,  and 
for  a  longer  period,  nearly  one-half  of  the  applicants  had  applied  in 
previous  years : 


Year 


Previously  Regis- 
tered Proportion 
Per  Cent. 


1913-1914.. 
1912-1913.. 
1911-1912.. 
1910-1911.. 
1909-1910.. 
1908-1909.. 

Averages 
1905-1914.. 
1905-1913.. 


11,220 
15,773 
20,907 
26,540 
42,441 
19,485 


49.7 
48.3 
47.8 
51.3 
48.5 
not  available 


29,314 
31,576 


Nearly  80  per  cent,  of  the  male  applicants  for  1913-1914  were  from 
the  building  trades,  locomotion  and  transport.  The  latter  would  include 
all  teamsters,  hackmen,  dock  workers,  etc.  More  than  one-third  of  the 
women  applicants  had  previously  followed  the  occupation  of  charwomen. 


*  For  fiscal  year  ending  March  31,  1913. 


86 


The  number  and  percentage  of  the  total  number  of  applicants  provided 
with  work,  emigrated,  migrated  and  in  any  way  assisted,  is  shown  in  the 
following  table: 


Year 

Total  No. 
Applicants 
Registered 

Percentage 

Provided 

With  Work 

Emigrated 
Percentage 

Migrated 
Percentage 

Total 

Percentage 

Cases 

Assisted 

1913-1914 

1912-1913 

11,220 
15,773 

27.1 
23.0 

1.4 
3.3 

0.09 
0.07 

28.6 
26.4 

Averages: 
1905-1914 

29,314 
31,576 

18.4 
18.0 

2.3 
2.3 

0.08 
0.08 

20.8 
20.4 

Work  Provided 

The  work  provided  was  similar  to  that  of  former  years.  There  were 
employed  in  the  London  works  1,627  men  for  periods  ranging  from  6  to  9 
weeks.  1,138  of  these  were  employed  in  parks  and  open  spaces.  Alto- 
gether work  was  provided  at  twenty  centers  and  consisted  mainly  of 
levelling  and  grading  grounds. 

Women  were  employed  throughout  the  year,  except  in  June,  in  three 
workrooms  making  articles  of  underclothing,  shirts  and  various  tailor- 
made  and  machine-knitted  garments.  These  articles  were  disposed  of 
by  free  distribution  through  the  Children's  Care  Committees  connected 
with  the  schools  of  the  London  County  Council,  in  outfitting  persons 
whose  cases  were  approved  for  emigration,  inmates  of  the  Hollesley  Bay 
Colony,  and  by  sales  to  various  public  or  philanthropic  authorities. 


Hollesley  Bay  Colony 

At  Hollesley  Bay  Colony  1,262  men  were  provided  with  work  for  an  average  period 
of  a  little  less  than  nine  weeks.  The  experiment  of  placing  the  paid  labor  on  piece 
work,  which  had  been  inaugurated  a  year  or  two  previously  was  continued  and  re- 
ported successful.  The  Colony  flock  of  lambs  when  offered  for  sale  brought  the  high- 
est prices.  At  the  end  of  the  year  36  families  were  settled  at  the  Colony.  The  cost 
per  man  per  week  averaged  only  one  pound,  two  shillings  for  a  family  of  five. 

The  Hollesley  Bay  Colony  has  been  the  subject  of  more  controversy  than  any 
other  phase  of  the  activity  of  the  Central  Unemployed  Body  under  the  Unemployed 
Workmen  Act.  It  has  had  many  defenders  who  were  either  wholly  or  partly  of 
sympathy  with  relief  work  in  general. 

The  Colony  was  taken  over  in  February,  1905.  It  consists  of  1,300  acres,  and 
has  living  and  sleeping  accommodations  for  350  men  in  buildings  formerly  used  for 
an  agricultural  college. 

The  report  for  the  year  1906-1907  gives  three  main  purposes  for  the  Colony's 

work: 

1  Special  work  for  periods  of  exceptional  distress. 

2  Continuous   work  for  men  who   are  not  only  in  exceptional   need  of   work, 

but  who  either  have  already  lived  on  the  land  or  show  a  marked  apti- 
tude for  country  life. 

3  Establishment   of    suitable   men    and    families   in   agricultural    or   other    rural 

industry. 

87 


Those  most  interested  in  the  Colony  plan  desire  to  promote  the  last  purpose 
more  particularly  than  the  first  two  cited.  The  establishment  of  men  in  agriculture 
would  include  securing  positions  as  ordinary  farm  laborers,  securing  work  in  market 
gardening  or  general  gardening ;  the  establishment  of  men  on  small  holdings,  and, 
finally,  the  emigration  of  men  who  had  been  trained  in  agricultural  work  at  the 
Colony. 

The  possibility  of  training  men  for  agriculture  and  diverting  them  from  the 
cities  to  industries  on  the  land  was  seriously  hampered  if  not  made  entirely  im- 
practical by  the  decision  of  the  London  County  Council  (appropriating  body)  that 
the  placing  of  selected  men  on  small  holdings  of  the  Central  Body  was  beyond  the 
power  of  the  Central  Body  under  the  law.*  In  the  early  history  of  the  Colony,  after 
this  blow  to  its  expectations  had  been  given,  efforts  were  made  through  advertising 
to  place  men  in  suitable  situations,  but  without  success,  owing  chiefly  to  the  encum- 
brance of  the  large  families  most  of  the  men  had.  The  report  for  the  year  1910-1911 
refers  to  the  inability  of  the  Colony  to  place  trained  men  in  small  holdings. 

In  the  report  for  the  year  1911-1912  the  Central  Body  refers  to  the  analysis  of 
expenditures  in  the  Hollesley  Bay  Colony  by  saying  that  "in  the  working  of  such  a 
farm  under  commercial  conditions,  part  of  the  work  now  done  by  the  unemployed 
labor  would  be  carried  out  by  machinery.  Moreover,  the  workmen  employed  are  not 
accustomed  to  the  class  of  work  performed." 

For  the  year  1913-1914  the  farm  and  garden  account  showed  a  profit  for  the 
first  time  of  £1,530.  The  balance  sheet  for  this  year  showed  the  value  of  the  estate 
as  a  labor  colony  to  be  £47,573,  an  increase  of  £3,323  during  the  year.  The  net 
cost  of  working  the  Colony  since  December  12,  1905  (eight  and  a  half  years)  was 
stated  to  be  £142,289. 

In  recent  annual  reports  for  the  years  1910-1914  inclusive,  the  valuation  put  upon 
the  work  in  the  Hollesley  Bay  Colony  runs  from  50  per  cent,  to  75  per  cent,  of  that 
performed  by  ordinary  labor.  The  valuations  put  upon  non-colony  works  range 
from  60  per  cent,  to  95  per  cent. 

General  Observations  of  Distress  Committees  on  the  Unemployed  Work- 
men Act 

Each  annual  report  of  the  Central  Unemployed  Body  summarizes 
the  observations  of  the  twenty-nine  Distress  Committees  reporting  to  it. 
For  the  last  four  or  five  years  the  observations  are  similar  and  may 
fairly  be  represented  by  references  from  the  report  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1914.  Certain  Committees  report  regarding  the  working  of  the 
Act  in  relation  to  the  men  with  whom  they  are  dealing: 

"The  Act  does  little  to  meet  the  exceptional  conditions  in  that  area  al- 
though many  families  have  been  helped  over  a  time  of  severe  distress." 

Another  wishes  to — 

"*  *  again  emphasize  their  opinion  that  the  good  done  by  the  Act  is  to- 
tally incommensurate  with  the  machinery  and  expense  entailed  in  carrying  it  out." 

At  St.  Pancras  the  Distress  Committee  finds  that — 

"It  still  remains  true  that  the  main  effect  of  the  Act  has  been  to  manufacture 
a  special  class  of  men  who  year  by  year  wait  for  the  opening  of  the  register  in 
order  to  enable  them  to  tide  over  the  winter." 


♦There  is  little  doubt  that  the  refusal  to  provide  an  outlet  for  men  who  had  been  diverted  from  city 
life  by  facilitating  their  location  on  the  land,  seriously  crippled  the  Colony  and  in  large  part  nullified  the  plana 
of  ita   promoters. 

88 


One  Committee  repeats  its  remarks  of  the  previous  year  as  to  the  inef- 
fectiveness of  relief  work  and  as  to  the 

"Increase  of  the  number  of   families  where  the  man  is  no  longer  the  chief 
breadwinner," 

and  again — 

"Urge  the  imperative  need  of  sufficient  classification  of  the  chronic  applicants." 

Two  of  the  twenty-nine  Committees  believe  that  the  Act  works  well 
and  should  be  continued  until  some  more  permanent  measure  is  provided 
to  take  its  place. 

Experience  of  Continental  Europe 

British  experience  in  dealing  with  relief  employment  has  been 
reviewed  at  considerable  length  because  of  its  significance  and  because 
of  its  having  been  subjected  to  careful  study  and  analysis. 

A  summary  review  of  the  methods  in  vogue  in  other  European  coun- 
tries follows: 

GERMANY* 

Relief  works  for  the  unemployed  in  Germany  date  from  the  winter  of  1895-1896, 
when  thirty-six  towns  provided  some  form  of  relief  work  employment.  During  the 
winter  of  1911-1912,  79  towns  included  relief  work  among  the  measures  adopted  for 
the  relief  of  the  unemployed. 

The  most  complete  system  of  relief  work  for  the  unemployed  is  that  of  Dussel- 
dorf.  Each  summer  the  authorities  prepare  a  program  of  relief  works  for  the  winter. 
Until  1908-1909  these  relief  works  were  undertaken  partly  by  the  administrative  de- 
partments of  the  municipality,  and  partly  by  contractors  for  road  works  who  were 
required  to  hire  a  certain  number  of  the  unemployed.  Applicants  for  such  employment 
must  have  resided  in  the  city  for  one  year,  and  since  1912  must  have  been  unemployed 
for  a  period  of  fourteen  days.  They  are  required  to  report  three  times  in  eight  days 
to  the  labor  exchange.  Since  1910-1911  work  has  been  restricted  to  married  men  and 
to  single  men  with  dependents.  Road  work,  earth  work  and  labor  in  the  supply  and  dis- 
tribution of  sand,  have  been  the  main  occupations  offered,  though  there  have  been 
some  attempts  to  provide  skilled  employment.  As  unemployment  became  acute,  stone 
breaking  was  resorted  to,  but  was  made  as  easy  as  possible.  The  hours  of  employment 
were  the  same  as  those  for  regular  municipal  laborers.  The  wages  were  3  marks,  25 
pfennig  (about  75c.)  per  day,  25p.  less  than  the  current  rate  for  unskilled  labor.  91,045 
work-days  were  supplied  in  1908-1909;  9,681  work-days  were  supplied  in  1909-1910. 
The  net  cost,  over  and  above  the  value  of  the  work,  to  Diisseldorf,  is  estimated  to 
have  been  2  m.  (46c.)  per  day  per  person  employed.  In  the  year  1908-1909  the  loss 
is  estimated  to  have  amounted  to  200,000  marks  ($46,000)  out  of  a  total  expenditure 
of  498,522  marks  ($113,660)  or  about  40  per  cent. 

Since  1912  the  German  Association  for  Home  Colonies  for  Social  Purposesf  has 
managed  a  cultivation  center  in  Reppen  (near  Frankfort  a.  O.),  which  is  reported  to 
have  shown  satisfaction.  Germany  also  provides  an  excellent  system  of  lodging  houses 
and  since  1908  there  have  been  about  35  labor  colonies,  the  first  of  which  was  estab- 
lished at  Wurttemberg. 


♦Abstract  from  the  Official  Delegate's  Report  to  the  International  Conference  on  Unemployment,  1912. 
t  In  these  colonies  attempts  are  made  to  reclaim  waste  land  and  do  similar  work. 


FRANCE* 

In  1910,  533  communes  provided  work  for  the  unemployed  for  an  average  of  from 
one  to  twenty  days.  The  usual  kind  of  work  was  road  work  and  work  for  agricultural 
laborers.  The  average  daily  wage  from  V/2  to  2y2  francs  (30c.  to  50c).  The  total 
amount  expended  was  1,040,000  francs  ($208,012).  Twenty-two  towns  spent  at  least 
10,000  francs  ($2,000)  each. 

In  Paris  in  1910,  in  connection  with  municipal  lodging  houses,  work  was  provided 
such  as  wood  chopping,  brick  laying,  printing,  lock-smithing  and  preparing  clothes  and 
bedding  used  in  municipal  departments.  29,462  francs  ($5,S92)  were  paid  in  wages  in 
addition  to  food  and  lodgings.  2,011  persons  were  assisted  in  this  way.  A  subvention 
was  given  to  provide  relief  work  for  women  who  were  employed  in  making,  repair- 
ing and  washing  clothes  and  linen  used  in  municipal  departments.  From  140  to  150 
women  were  employed.  In  1912  expenditures  on  this  account  amounted  to  10,000 
francs     ($2,000). 

ITALY* 

Italy  provides  public  work  for  the  relief  of  seasonal  agricultural  labor  in  the 
valley  of  the  Po.  The  work  undertaken  is  extensive  improvement  of  the  soil.  Much 
of  this  work  has  been  given  to  Labor  Co-operative  Societies  founded  by  agricultural 
laborers  as  well  as  to  contractors. 

AUSTRIA* 

One  Austrian  City,  Briin,  provides  organized  relief  employment  in  construction 
work.    Good  results  are  reported. 

NORWAY* 

Norway  has  provided  no  relief  work  since  1905.  For  three  years  previously  the 
State  had  provided  work  for  the  unemployed  in  the  construction  of  railways  and 
docks.  The  city  of  Christiana  in  1908  provided  special  opportunities  for  unskilled 
labor  as  well  as  stone  breaking.  The  Department  of  Port,  Bridges  and  Roads  has 
been  organized  to  employ  as  many  people  in  winter  as  in  summer. 

In  Bergen  public  relief  works  such  as  clearing  land,  road-making,  sack  making, 
etc.,  have  been  organized.  Certain  municipal  works  are  reserved  as  a  matter  of 
course  for  the  winter  season. 

In  Stavanger,  each  winter  from  November  to  March,  the  unemployed  are  put 
to  work  clearing  and  cultivating  land  belonging  to  the  town.  As  many  as  120  persons 
at  a  time  have  been  assisted  with  this  work.  Complaints  have  been  made  about  the 
high  cost  of  relief  works. 

THE  NETHERLANDS 

The  unemployed  are  put  to  work  breaking  flax  and  clearing  uncultivated  lands. 
The  Dutch  Society  for  Clearing  Moors  spends  1,000,000  francs  ($200,000)  per  annum, 
but  some  of  this  work  is  done  regardless  of  employment  conditions. 

SWITZERLAND 

Certain  towns  provide  road  works,  snow  cleaning,  laying  water  and  gas  pipes, 
especially  for  the  unemployed.  In  others,  private  charity  has  organized  wood  cutting, 
rag  sorting,  gravel  sifting,  and  certain  agricultural  labor. 


*  Abstract  from  the  Official  Delegate's  Report  to  the  International  Conference  on  Unemployment,  1912. 


90 


mayocs    cowuttee 

O/M 

UNEMPLOYMENT 


EXECUTIVE  COnniTTEE. 

GENERAL     CHAIEMArt 
CENEBAL    SECRELTAEY 
CHAIRMAN    OP      Sv/B- COMMITTEES 


Dl  12  ECTOJ2 


SEASONALITY*  llcl?EGl/LAIclTY OF  EMPLOYMENT 

Cl- Seasonal  Industries 

D- irregularity  of  Employment 

C-Employrnenl  Policies  in  Representative  Industries 


INVESTIGATIO/NS 

a-3ecviring   Facts 

fc-  Supervising  Investigation 


PUBLIC     POLICY 

a- Developing  Public  Employment  Bureaus 
t>- Organising  Schemesfcr  Decasualizing  Casual  Labor 
C-Federating  Non-commercial  Employment  Agencies 
r]_ Planning  PwbUc.  Eipenditwres  to  Compensate  for  Decreased 

Private  Employment  cbtrmc,  trade.  Crises- 
e    Unemployment  Insurance 


RELIEF  AMD  EMERGENCY  EMPLOYMENT 

a-Co-operati 

tnai  Co-ore 

lwation  of  Eel 

ief 

b-Emeroen 

c? 

Employn 

lent 

C-Loci»-»  Fvind 

and  Crec 

Lit  l%ion 

Cl-  Homeless 

Men  oriel  Vagrancy 

INDUSTRIAL TRAINING # VOCATIONAL  GUIDANCE 

a-lndustrial  Training 

b-5tudyof    Private,  Commercial  Sciiool?  and 

tKeir    Effect    oh  Vrie*wPlaywien.t 
C -Vocational     Help  to  Minors 
Ol- Training;   the.  Vn employ e  d 


PART    III 

CONSTRUCTIVE  PROPOSALS  FOR  AN  IMMEDIATE  PROGRAM 

Need  of  Permanent  Committee  for  Study  and  Action 

Irregularity  of  employment,  and  unemployment,  being  persistent  factors  affecting 
adversely  the  social  welfare,  should  receive  constant  attention  and  study  through 
the  associated  effort  and  co-operation  of  the  city,  the  business  and  industrial  com- 
munity, and  those  interested  in  the  general  welfare. 

Reorganization  of  Mayor's  Committee 

It  is  recommended  that  the  Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment  be  reorganized 
with  an  active  membership  of  about  twenty,  on  which  the  influential  business,  com- 
mercial, labor  and  civic  organizations  most  concerned  with  industrial  problems  and 
with  unemployment  should  be  represented.* 

This  suggestion  need  not  exclude  from  membership  on  the  committee  repre- 
sentative individuals  whose  interest  in  the  subject  and  whose  influence  and  standing 
in  the  community  make  them  effective  members. 

Plan  of  Organization 

In  the  light  of  the  last  year's  experience  and  the  study  of  the  problem  presented 
by  unemployment  in  New  York  City,  the  following  plan  of  organization  and  subjects 
to  be  taken  up  for  careful  consideration  and  recommendation  is  suggested. 
Central  Committee 

Consisting  of  about  twenty  members 
Executive   Committee 

Consisting  of   General    Chairman,   General   Secretary,   and   Chairman  of 
Sub-committees . 

Sub-committees  dealing  with  definite  phases  of  the  problem. 
1     Investigations 

a     Securing  Facts 

b     Supervising  Investigations 

2  Seasonality  and  Irregularity  of  Employment 

a     Seasonal   Industries 

b     Irrregularity  of  Employment 

c    Employment  Policies  in  Representative  Industries 

3  Public  Policy 

a     Developing   Public   Employment   Bureaus 

b     Organizing  Schemes  for  Decasualizing  Casual  Labor 

c    Federating    Non-Commercial    Employment    Agencies 

d     Planning  Public  Expenditures  to  Compensate  for  Decreased  Private 

Employment  During  Trade  Crises 
e    Unemployment  Insurance 


*  A  new  Committee  was  appointed  January  25,  1916,  see  p.  109. 

91 


4  Industrial  Training  and  Vocational  Guidance 

a     Industrial  Training 

b     Study  of  Private  Commercial   Schools  and  Their  Effect  on  Unem- 
ployment 
c    Vocational   Help   to  Minors 
d     Training  the   Unemployed 

5  Relief  and  Emergency  Employment 

a     Co-operation  and  Co-ordination  of  Relief 

b    Emergency  Employment 

c     Loan  Fund  and  Credit  Union 

d     Homeless  Men  and  Vagrancy 

The  following  is  an  outline  of  the  more  immediate  problems  which  can 
be  taken  up  by  the  committees  suggested  above : 

Investigations 

Securing  Facts 

Some  progress  has  been  made  in  collecting  information  regarding  unemployment, 
irregulartiy  of  employment  and  fluctuations  in  employment.  The  subject  needs  constant 
attention. 

On  the  initiative  of  the  Committee  the  most  complete  census  of  unemployment 
undertaken  anywhere  in  the  country  was  taken  in  January-February,  1915,  and  again 
in  August-September,  1915,  by  the  Metropolitan  Life  Insurance  Company,  and  co- 
operatively by  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  and  the  Mayor's  Com- 
mittee.* 

The  State  Industrial  Commission  is  now  collecting  data  on  a  schedule  worked 
out  in  conference  with  the  committee  on  investigations,  which  shows  fluctuations  in 
employment  in  nearly  1,300  representative  manufacturing  establishments  (total  num- 
ber of  employees,  total  amount  of  wages  paid).f  Special  studies  and  investigations 
of  irregularity  of  employment,  seasonal  employment  and  casual  labor  should  be  made 
and  a  fact  center  on  employment  data  maintained. 

Supervising  Investigations 

Supervise  special  investigations,  required  by  other  committees  (if  desired)  and 
initiate  studies  and  inquiries  related  to  unemployment  made  by  public,  educational, 
civic  and  other  investigatng  bodies. 

Seasonality  and  Irregularity  of  Employment 

Seasonality  and  Irregularity  of  Employment 

These  subjects  should  receive  special  attention  as  among  the  most  important 
aspects  of  the  problem  of  unemployment  as  it  affects  industry.  This  sub-commit- 
tee should  be  representative  of  influential  interests  in  industry,  particularly  in 
"seasonal  industries."  It  should  study,  with  constructive  ends  in  view,  the  problem 
of  seasonality  and  irregularity  of  employment  in  the  more  important  industries  of  the 
city. 

Employment  Policies  in  Representative  Industries 

Special  effort  should  be  made  to  co-operate  with  the  new  Society  for  the  Study 
of  Employment  Problems  (employment  managers'  association),  bringing  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  employers  of  New  York  the  desirability  of  studying  their  own  employ- 
ment problems,  of  cutting  down  the  labor  "turn  over"  and  of  developing  regularity 
and  continuity  in  the  labor  force. 


*Soe  pp.   11  and  22. 
tSee  p.  26. 


92 


Public  Policy 

Developing  Public  Employment  Bureaus 

Special  consideration  should  be  given  to  assisting  in  developing  the  public  employ- 
ment bureaus,  encouraging  and  assisting  them  in  securing  co-operation  from  the 
employing  public,  and  in  obtaining  adequate  financial  support. 

Elsewhere*  is  a  discussion  of  the  functions  of  public  employment  bureaus, 
experience  with  them  in  other  countries,  and  recommendations  growing  out  of  a 
special  conference  held  in  June,  1915,  to  consider  their  proper  development. 

Organising  Schemes  for  "Decasualizing"  Casual  Labor 

Some  attention  has  already  been  given  by  the  Director  of  the  Mayor's  Committee 
to  the  collection  of  information  with  regard  to  employment  conditions  along  the 
docks.  Section  1,  Part  II,  of  this  report  contains  a  detailed  discussion  of  the  schemes 
in  practice  in  England  for  organizing  dock  labor.  Preliminary  inquiries  have  been 
made  of  representatives  of  the  International  Longshoremen's  Association  and  of  em- 
ploying interests,  in  part,  from  which  we  believe  that  an  organized  employment 
scheme  for  dock  laborers  in  New  York  is  possible  of  achievement.  Steps  in  this 
direction  should  be  undertaken.  This  proposal  suggests  efforts  which  can  be  made 
in  other  industries  employing  casual  labor. 

Federating  Non-Commercial  Employment  Agencies 

A  Federation  of  Non-Commercial  Employment  Agencies  has  been  organized 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Mayor's  Committee.  A  study  has  been  made  of 
the  private  non-commercial  employment  bureaus  as  the  basis  of  the  co-ordination 
and  correlation  of  the  placement  work  now  being  done  by  all  these  agencies.  Con- 
ferences are  being  held  between  bureaus  serving  similar  classes  of  applicants,  to  pro- 
mote the  best  methods  of  co-operation.  The  constant  attention  of  the  Director  of  the 
Mayor's  Committee,  who  has  served  as  chairman  of  the  federation,  is  needed  until 
methods  of  co-ordinating  the  work  of  the  bureaus  with  one  another  and  with  the 
public  bureaus,  are  worked  out. 

Planning   Public   Expenditures   to    Compensate   for   Decreased   Private   Employment 
During  Trade  Crises 

Serious  efforts  should  be  made  to  promote  a  method  of  planning  public  improve- 
ments and  expenditures  over  a  period  of  from  seven  to  ten  years,  so  that  a  certain 
percentage  each  year  would  be  postponed  to  be  undertaken  in  years  of  extraordinary 
unemployment!  At  the  conference  of  Mayors  of  New  York  State  held  in  June,  1915, 
the  General  Secretary  of  the  Mayor's  Committee  introduced  a  resolution  for  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  of  five  mayors,  to  report  a  practical  program  for  carrying 
out  this  suggestion.  The  Mayor's  Committee  is  taking  an  active  part  in  the  work 
of  an  advisory  conference  which  has  recommended  a  program  to  the  Committee  of 
Mayors. 

Unemployment  Insurance 

The  basis  upon  which  unemployment  insurance  can  be  undertaken  in  New  York 
City  and  New  York  State,  as  well  as  the  nation  at  large,  should  receive  careful 
consideration. 

The  subject  should  be  brought  forcibly  to  the  attention  of  the  leaders  of  opinion 
in   industry,   politics   and   government.      Information    should    be   gathered    as   to   the 


*See  pp.  45  and  96. 

t  See  p.  52  for  discussion  of  this  proposal. 


93 


operation  of  out-of-work  benefits  among  trade  unions  in  this  country.  Knowledge 
of  unemployment  insurance  plans  of  other  countries  should  be  brought  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  citizens  of  New  York.* 


Industrial  Training  and  Vocational  Guidance 

Industrial  Training 

Industrial  training,  while  not  to  be  considered  solely  from  the  point  of  view 
of  unemployment,  bears  a  definite  and  important  relation  to  irregularity  of,  and  un- 
employment. 

At  the  suggestion  of  representatives  of  organized  labor  that  an  "industrial  sur- 
vey" precede  the  adoption  of  a  general  scheme  of  industrial  education,  the  board  of 
education  has  requested  the  board  of  estimate  and  apportionment  to  appropriate 
$15,000  for  a  survey  of  the  leading  industries  of  the  city.f  This  survey,  it  is  urged, 
will  enable  the  board  of  education,  in  planning  the  course  of  study  in  industrial  sub- 
jects, to  take  fully  into  account  existing  employment  opportunities. 

Study  of  Private  Commercial  Schools  and  Their  Effect  on  Unemployment 

Various  committees  and  organizations  dealing  with  unemployed  girls  have  found 
that  a  very  large  number  of  applicants  for  employment  and  relief  had  presumably 
finished  courses  in  various  private  commercial  schools  for  the  training  of  steno- 
graphers, office  and  business  workers.  In  some  cases  this  training  is  known  to  be 
decidedly  superficial  and  to  have  been  undertaken  by  the  pupils  because  of  an  express 
or  implied  promise  that  the  student  would,  upon  completion  of  the  prescribed  course, 
be  able  to  secure  remunerative  employment.  Some  schools  have  paid  solicitors 
among  the  girls.  A  study  of  these  schools  and  the  effect  upon  unemployment  of  turn- 
ing out  a  horde  of  illy-equipped  commercial  workers,  is  much  needed. 

Vocational  Help  to  Minors 

The  opening  up  of  constructive  employment  opportunities  for  minors  through 
vocational  guidance  is  an  extremely  important  aspect  of  the  problem  of  preventing 
unemployment.  A  special  sub-committee  of  the  Mayor's  Committee  has  already 
devoted  much  time,  thought  and  effort  to  this  subject.  This  work  should  be  con- 
tinued and  extended. 

Training   the   Unemployed 

Elsewhere,+  is  the  report,  with  constructive  proposals  of  the  special  committee 
appointed  to  sum  up  the  results  of  a  conference  held  on  the  subject  of  training  the 
unemployed. 

The  Julia  Richman  High  School  and  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  are  co-operat- 
ing with  the  Mayor's  Committee  in  maintaining  commercial  and  trade  extension 
classes  for  utilizing  the  idle  time  of  unemployed  girls  to  train  them  in  their  chosen 
vocations.  These  extension  classes  are  being  carried  on  in  a  building  owned  by  the 
city  at  49  Lafayette  Street,  in  which  is  located  the  public  employment  bureau.  The 
classes  are  connected  up  with  the  public  and  non-commercial  employment  bureaus, 
so  that  by  referring  applicants  for  practical  tests  as  to  working  efficiency,  they  may 
serve  the  bureaus  as  experiment  stations  in  vocational  guidance.  Until  they  can  be 
incorporated  into  the  school  system,  these  classes  need  attention  and  some  financial 
support. § 


*  See  pp.  68,  G9  and  76. 

t  This  survey  has  been  authorized. 

i>.  99. 
§  See  "Training  Classes  for  Unemployed  Girls,"  p.  30. 


94 


Relief  and  Emergency  Employment 

Co-operation  and  Co-ordination  of  Relief 

While  the  emphasis  in  a  constructive  program  for  the  prevention  and  mitigation 
of  unemployment  should  be  on  industrial  organization  and  public  policy,  it  is  advis- 
able for  the  time  being  to  anticipate  the  relief  needs  of  an  unemployment  crisis  such 
as  last  year's,  should  it  recur,  and  to  prepare  to  meet  it  effectively  from  the  relief 
point  of  view. 

At  the  beginning  of  last  winter  city-wide  leadership  in  unemployment  was  lacking. 
A  permanent  association  or  federation  of  relief  and  appropriate  public  welfare 
agencies  should  be  organized  to  function  promptly  in  unemployment  crises.  The  gen- 
eral program  of  such  an  emergency  body  and  the  part  assigned  to  each  co-operating 
organization  in  such  a  program,  should  be  worked  out,  as  far  as  practicable,  in  advance. 
The  example  of  the  National  Red  Cross,  with  existing  relief  societies  as  auxiliaries 
and  working  units,  illustrates  the  advantage  of  preparedness  when  emergencies  arise. 
Organizations  other  than  the  large  relief  societies  should  be  brought  into  this  plan, 
as  complete  success  will  depend  upon  a  unified  city-wide  program  supported  by  all 
agencies  capable  of  participation. 

Emergency  Employment 

A  satisfactory  plan  of  emergency  employment  would  be  one  of  the  problems  to 
be  worked  out  by  the  proposed  federation  of  relief  and  welfare  agencies.* 

Loan  Fund  and  Credit  Union  Plan 

An  attempt  should  be  made  to  promote  a  central  loan  or  credit  union  plan  which 
would  be  self-sustaining  and  self-perpetuating.  During  the  emergency  of  last  winter 
it  was  impossible  to  secure  sufficient  support  to  inaugurate  a  credit  union  plan.  This 
year  renewed  effort  should  be  made. 

Program  for  Homeless  Men  and  Vagrants 

The  knitting  together  of  various  voluntary  religious  and  philanthropic  organi- 
zations and  the  Municipal  Lodging  House  in  dealing  with  homeless  men,  and  the 
further  development  of  plans  already  under  way  for  industrial  work  in  the  Municipal 
Lodging  House  may  need  the  co-operation  of  this  Committee. 

Special  effort  needs  to  be  made  to  secure  an  appropriation  from  the  legislature 
for  a  State  Farm  Colony  for  Vagrants  for  which  the  State  already  owns  a  site  at 
Beekman,  Dutchess  County.  The  Mayor's  Committee  participated  in  attempts  to  se- 
cure an  appropriation  during  the  1915  legislative  session,  addressed  the  Governor  on 
the  subject,  conferred  with  legislative  leaders,  and  met  with  other  organizations  inter- 
ested, but  the  effort  failed. 


*  See  p.  27  for  summary  account  of  work  of  "emergency  workshops"  supported  last  winter  by  the  Mayor's 
Committee. 


95 


PART    IV 
APPENDICES 

Appendix  I 

Recommendations   of   Conference   on   the   Development   of   Public 

Employment  Bureaus. 

The  following  committee  was  appointed  to  sum  up  the  results  of  a  conference 
on  the  development  of  public  employment  bureaus  called  by  the  Mayor's  Committee, 
June  10,  1915. 

Mr.  John  B.  Andrews 

Mr.  Frederick  L.  Cranford 

Mr.  Hugh   Frayne 

Mr.  Jonathan  C.  Day 

Miss  Maude  Wetmore 

Mr.  Walter  L.   Sears        *)  . 

Mr.  Charles    B.    Barnes    J    ex  offici° 

Excerpts  of  the  Committee's  recommendations  are  here  given. 

Function  of  Public  Employment  Bureaus 

The  Conference  believes  in  the  fullest  possible  development  of  the  public  em- 
ployment bureaus.  It  is  realized  that  these  bureaus  are  not  a  remedy  for  unem- 
ployment. They  cannot  create  jobs.  Their  function  is  to  organize  the  labor  market, 
to  conserve  the  time  and  energy  of  applicants  for  work  and  employers  seeking  workers, 
to  make  the  closest  possible  connection  between  the  job  and  the  worker  and  to  make 
known  to  both  employers  and  employees  the  needs  of  employers  for  workers  on  the 
one  hand  and  the  desires  of  employees  to  secure  such  work  on  the  other  hand. 

Public  Employment  Bureaus  as  "Regularizes"  of  Employment 

Public  bureaus  can  perform  a  most  useful  and  necessary  function  in  centralizing 
and  pooling  the  demands  of  all  employers,  particularly  in  casual  and  seasonal  occu- 
pations, thereby  stabilizing  employment  and  concentrating  regular  employment  for 
the  largest  number  of  weeks  throughout  the  year  on  individual  workmen,  so  that 
they  may  become  regular  employees  in  the  industry  though  not  always  regularly 
employed  by  a  single  employer.  The  bureaus  when  performing  their  function  as 
the  central  organized  labor  market  of  a  community  will  prevent  much  unemployment 
by  making  prompt  connections  between  the  job  and  the  worker. 

Obstacles  to  Be  Overcome 

Public  employment  bureaus  in  their  attempt  to  organize  the  labor  market  must 
compete  in  New  York  City  with  from  500  to  600  commercial  employment  bureaus 
to  whose  material  interest  it  is  to  have  men  out-of-work  and  seeking  work  since 
their  profits  depend  on  fees  secured  for  placing  men  in  employment.     The  more  times 

96 


out-of-work,  the  more  fees.  The  abuses  of  the  private  agencies  are  well  known  and 
need  not  be  repeated.  It  is  sufficient  to  know  that  even  at  best  the  commercial  bureaus 
tend  to  disorganize  rather  than  to  organize  the  labor  market. 

The  public  employment  bureau,  as  an  important  public  function,  deserves  public 
support  through  capital  investment  in  advance  of  immediate  returns.  The  public 
employment  bureau  is  in  a  new  field  not  fully  recognized  by  the  business  and  com- 
mercial world.  The  existence  of  bureaus  promoted  in  the  interests  of  the  out-of-work 
by  charities  and  philanthropies  has  resulted  in  a  natural  expectation  that  the  work- 
men sought  to  be  placed  by  the  "free"  bureau  is  in  some  way  not  industrially  efficient. 
The  public  employment  bureau  must  be  promoted  from  the  public  point  of  view 
on  business  principles.  Its  approach  must  be  that  it  seeks  to  place  workmen  in  employ- 
ment because  they  are  industrially  capable  for  some  particular  industrial  opportunity, 
not  merely  because  they  are  unemployed.  To  both  employer  and  employee  it  acts 
as  a  time  saver  and  an  acceptable  medium  of  approach.  The  city  and  state  govern* 
ments  are  justified  in  investing  money  in  this  enterprise  because  it  will  work  in  the 
interests  of  business  and  social  efficiency  and  economy. 

Division  of  Territory  in  Relation  to  City  and  State  Bureaus 

The  Municipal  Employment  Bureau  at  Leonard  and  Lafayette  Streets  is  sup- 
ported by  the  City  of  New  York  and  the  State  Bureau  at  262  Fulton  Street,  Brook- 
lyn, is  supported  by  the  State  of  New  York.  They  should  co-operate  to  the  fullest 
possible  degree  and  should  be  conducted  as  if  they  were  under  a  single  management 
as  far  as  possible.     It  is  recommended : 

1  That  the  state  and  municipal  bureaus  keep  in  daily  contact  with  each  other 

by  the  interchange  of  information  as  to  unfilled  employment  opportuni- 
ties in  either  bureau  and  as  to  such  other  matters  as  experience  may 
prove   expedient. 

2  That  in  the  extension  of  the  work  of  both  the  municipal  and  state  bureaus 

throughout  the  Greater  City,  there  be  kept  constantly  in  mind  by  the 
management  of  both  bureaus,  and  the  departments  of  the  city  and  state 
governments  responsible  therefor,  the  desirability  of  all  the  employment 
bureaus  within  the  City  of  New  York  being  operated  ultimately  as  part 
of  a  single  system  under  a  single  management. 

3  That  the  management  of  both  bureaus   work  out,  in  conference,  a  plan  for 

the  development  and  extension  of  the  work  of  each,  the  territory  in 
which  each  will  operate,  the  establishment  of  branches  and  co-operating 
centers,  in  accordance  with  the  needs  of  the  city,  and  the  ability  of  each 
bureau  to  serve  a  particular  section  or  accomplish  a  given  result. 

Support  of  Employers  and  Employees 

It  is  obvious  that  the  chief  need  of  the  public  bureaus  is  the  support  of  sub- 
stantial employers  and  the  best  employees.  For  the  present  it  is  not  so  essential  to 
attempt  placement  work  in  trades  in  which  there  are  collective  agreements  between 
employers  and  employees  since  in  these  trades  it  is  customary  and  usual  for  the 
trade  unions  themselves  to  place  their  own  members.  For  the  time  being,  at  least, 
the  efforts  of  the  bureaus  should  be  concentrated  largely  in  industries  and  among 
employers  having  no  collective  agreements  with  their  men. 

We  suggest  that  definite  attempts  be  made  by  the  superintendents  of  the  bureaus 
to  interest  employers'  organizations  and  large  employers  in  hiring  through  the  bu- 
reaus. Direct  appeals  to  associations  of  employers  and  business  men  could  be  made 
by  addresses  at  their  meetings  and  by  conferences  with  working  committees  of  such 
organizations  as  would  afford  the  opportunity  for  conference.  Efforts  should  be  made 
to  establish  special  departments  or  branches  in  co-operation  with  any  large  industry 

97 


in  which  such  experiments  would  be  welcomed.  A  beginning  might  be  made  by 
requesting  business  organizations  to  appoint  committees  to  take  up  the  matter  of 
co-operation  with  public  employment  bureaus. 

To  this  end  a  definite  campaign  is  recommended  among  the  large  industrial 
groups,  mercantile  employments,  dock  workers,  chauffeurs,  hotel  help,  etc.  Such  a 
campaign  may  require  the  co-operation  of  citizen  agencies.  The  Mayor's  Committee 
could  with  advantage  devote  time  and  funds  to  this  purpose. 

The  following  methods  of  publicity  are  suggested : 

1  Endeavor  to  secure  the  co-operation  of   leading  advertising  experts  in   pub- 

licity campaign. 

2  Procure  space  in  trade  journals  for  the  publication  of  "newsy"  reports  con- 

cerning labor  conditions  in  the  particular  trades. 

3  Secure  space  on  subway  and  elevated  platforms  and  elsewhere  for  advertising 

the  public  bureaus. 

4  When   a  large  advertiser  is  induced  to   secure  his  labor  through  the  public 

employment  bureau  ask  him  to  state  that  fact  in  his  advertising. 

Location  of  Branches 

As  the  public  bureaus  are  for  the  service  and  protection  of  the  public,  and  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  in  order  to  be  effective  they  should  be  readily  accessible  to  the 
employers  in  the  various  centers  of  business  and  industry,  it  is  deemed  advisable  to 
locate  branches  convenient  to  such  centers. 

The  superintendent  of  the  municipal  bureau  has  secured  the  co-operation  of 
private  citizens  in  financing  one  branch  in  East  Seventy-sixth  Street,  Manhattan,  and 
in  the  Greenpoint  section,  Brooklyn,  and  anticipates  that  private  funds  may  be  offered 
in  support  of  experimental  branches  elsewhere.*  Other  branches  should  be  estab- 
lished where  needed  as  rapidly  as  public  or  private  support  can  be  secured  for 
them. 

Relation  to  Private  Non-Commercial  Employment  Agencies 

The  Federation  of  Non-Commercial  Employment  Agencies,  promoted  through 
the  Mayor's  Committee,  will  afford  a  medium  through  which  the  public  employment 
bureaus  may  secure  the  co-operation  and  support  of  the  non-commercial  agencies. 
The  public  employment  bureau  should  be  the  center  of  support.  The  close  co-opera- 
tion of  all  non-commercial  employment  agencies,  both  public  and  private,  will  result 
in  the  development  of  effective  co-operative  methods,  such  as  the  clearing  (prefer- 
ably through  the  public  bureaus)  of  all  unfilled  orders  from  employers  and  a  unified 
policy  of  solicitation  of  employers,  publicity,  etc. 

Juvenile  Exchanges 

Steps  should  be  taken  as  promptly  as  possible  to  develop  the  juvenile  departments 
of  the  public  exchanges.  These  departments  should  be  developed  in  close  co-operation 
with  the  departments  of  health    (work-certificate  bureau)    and   education. 

Advisory  Committees 

In  connection  with  the  Municipal  Employment  Bureau  there  should  be  appointed 
an  advisory  committee  on  which  employers  and  employees  should  have  equal  repre- 
sentation.     This    advisory    committee    will    be    the    greatest    help    in    securing    the 


*  Since  this  report  was  made  the  Municipal  Employment  Bureau  has  taken  over  the    Hudson    Guild 
Bureau  for  day  workers,  located  at  436  West  27th  Street.     See  p.  38. 

98 


support  of  both  employers  and  employees  in  making  the  bureau  known  to  a  wider 
circle  and  in  assuring  its  fuller  development. 

We  recommend  that  the  same  advisory  committee,  to  be  known  as  the  "Joint 
Advisory  Committee,"  act  for  the  state  and  city  bureaus.  If  for  any  reason  the 
city  or  state  authorities  object  to  this  arrangement,  we  suggest  that  there  be  joint 
conferences  between  each  separate  committee  at  frequent  intervals. 

Federal  System 

The  coming  session  of  Congress  should  provide  for  a  national  system  of  employ- 
ment exchanges.  The  federal  system  should  act  as  a  co-ordinating  and  correlating 
agency  to  link  up  the  city  and  state  bureaus  with  each  other  and  to  supplement  and 
standardize  activities  of  local  communities.  The  local  bureaus  should  co-operate 
with  the  present  federal  system  functioning  through  the  Division  of  Information  of 
the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  the  post  offices,  though  this  system  is  admittedly 
inadequate. 

State  Department  of  Agriculture 

We  recommend  that  the  Industrial  Commission  and  the  State  Department  of 
Agriculture  consider  whether  the  farm  labor  bureaus  of  the  State  Department  of 
Agriculture  are  not  now  superfluous  inasmuch  as  the  Industrial  Commission  has 
established  a  system  of  state  bureaus.* 

Committee  to  Promote  the  Development  of  the  Bureaus 

The  advisory  committee  (or  committees)  of  the  bureaus  consisting  of  an  equal 
number  of  employers  and  employees  can  best  perform  the  function  of  promoting  the 
wise  development  of  the  public  employment  bureaus. 


Appendix  II 

Recommendations  of  Conference  on  Methods  and  Means  of  Training 

the  Unemployed. 

The  following  Committee  was  appointed  to  sum  up  the  results  of  a  conference  on 
training  the  unemployed  called  by  the  Mayor's  Committee,  June  11,  1915. 

Miss  Florence   M.   Marshall 

Miss  Charlotte  M.  Boyd 

Mrs.  Alexander  Kohut 

Miss  Gertrude  Robinson   Smith 

Mrs.  James    Speyer 

Miss  Alary  Van  Kleeck 

Mr.  Arthur  M.  Wolfson. 

A  summary  of  the  committee's  recommendations  follows : 

The  Conference  recommends  the  following     as  constructive  suggestions  for  bet- 
tering employment  conditions : 

1     Establishment  of  a  juvenile  department  of  the  Municipal  Employment  Bureau 
to  work  in  close  co-operation  with  the  public  schools. 


*  The  Industrial  Commission  has  taken  over  the  farm  labor  bureau  mentioned,  since  this  report  was 
adopted. 

99 


2  Enlargement   of   opportunities    for   vocational   training   before    children    enter 

upon  any  kind  of  work,  so  that  all  possible  guidance  and  training  may  be 
given  previous  to  the  taking  of  a  job. 

3  Establishment   of    trade   annexes    (or    continuation    schools)    for    three    types 

of  workers: 

a  For  wholly  unskilled  workers,  especially  adolescents  who  alternate  be- 
tween odd  jobs  and  periods  of  drifting  about.  Not  only  should 
training  be  provided  for  these  children  but  they  should  be  required 
to  be  in  school  during  periods  of  unemployment. 

b  For  those  who  are  out  of  work  because  they  find  themselves  unfit  for, 
or  imperfectly  adjusted  to,  their  chosen  work.  Such  schools 
should  offer  opportunity  for  new  lines  of  training. 

c  For  workers  who  are  temporarily  unemployed  because  of  shifting  busi- 
ness conditions  (seasonal  work,  contraction  of  industry  due  to 
business  crises,  etc.)  both  in  commercial  and  industrial  lines.  Such 
schools  should  provide  supplementary  training  in  accordance  with 
the  different  trades  and  commercial  pursuits  to  enable  workers  to 
utilize  their  periods  of  unemployment  for  industrial  and  commer- 
cial advancement. 

4  Further   development  of    a   system    of    tests   similar   to   those    carried   on    by 

the  Julia  Richman  Trade  Annex  and  the  Manhattan  Trade  School,  for 
the  purpose  of  determining  the  relation  between  employment  and  tem- 
peramental, educational  and  physical  qualifications  of  seekers  after  posi- 
tions. Schools  giving  such  tests  should  work  in  close  affiliation  with 
employment  agencies,  so  that  the  agencies  might  have  their  applicants  for 
positions  tested,  to  determine  their  fitness  for  the  type  of  work  desired. 
All  organized  effort  for  special  training,  tests,  etc.,  as  a  means  of  per- 
manently bettering  conditions  of  unemployment  should  be  under  the 
department  of  education. 

5  Organization  of  a  co-operating  social  service  committee  representing  the  private 

non-commercial  employment  agencies  and  other  philanthropic  groups 
which  will  provide  funds  for  "scholarships"  and  "student  aid."  The 
amount  of  "scholarships"  and  "student  aid"  should  be  flexible  and  admin- 
istered in  accordance  with  the  needs  of  the  student. 

Immediate  action   is   recommended  along  certain   specific  lines  :* 

Trade  annexes  for  unemployed  girls  and  women  as  maintained  for  commer- 
cial students  at  the  Julia  Richman  Trade  Annex,  and  for  industrial  workers 
at  the  Manhattan  Trade  School,  should  be  continued  and  put  upon  a  perma- 
nent basis. 

Similar  classes  for  unemployed  boys  and  men  who  have  been  engaged  in  commer- 
cial and  industrial  work  should  be  inaugurated. 

Schools  should  be  established  to  take  care  of  wholly  unskilled  unemployed 
workers,  especially  adolescents,  for  the  purpose  of  training  them  so  that 
when  opportunity  for  re-employment  presents  itself  they  will  have  a  larger 
opportunity  for  ultimate  success. 

A  co-operating  committee  should  be  organized  to  supervise  the  maintenance  of 
funds  raised  for  vocational  "scholarships"  and  "student  aid"  as  suggested  in 
No.  "5." 

Definite  plans  for  co-operation  between  the  employment  agencies  and  the  schools 
should  be  agreed  upon.  The  employment  agencies  should  be  asked  to  refer 
all  possible  candidates  for  positions  registered  with  them  to  the  trade  an- 
nexes for  vocational  tests  and  especially  to  insist  upon  such  tests  in  the 
placement  of  juveniles. 


♦This  program  is  under  way  in  part.     Steps  arc  being  taken  to  carry  it  out  in  full.     Trade  annexea 
under  the  direi  tion  of  the  Julia  Richman  High  School  and  the  Manhattan  Trade  School  are  being  conducted 
i  t,  Manhattan.     Each    of  the.-e  annexe-  is  equipped  to  accommodate  7")  pupils. 

100 


Appendix  III 

Child  Labor  and  Unemployment* 

Inquiry  Through  Children  Applying  for  Work  Certificates 

Permission  was  obtained  from  the  director  of  the  bureau  of  child  hygiene  of  the 
department  of  health,  under  whose  supervision  work  certificates  are  granted, f  to  make 
a  study  of  the  information  that  could  be  obtained  from  this  source  by  two  investigators, 
each  of  whom  was  present  in  the  office  three  afternoons  a  week.  The  inquiry  was  made 
as  part  of  the  field  work  required  of  students  of  the  New  York  School  of  Philanthropy 
in  the  first  year  of  their  course. 

The  investigation  was  carried  on  from  the  middle  of  January  to  the  second  week  in 
April — through  the  period  at  the  close  of  the  school  term  in  February,  when  many  children 
regularly  leave  for  work,  and  through  the  period  of  Easter  vacation,  which  is  always 
marked  by  extra  numbers  who  take  out  papers  for  after-school  work.  Ten  hundred  and 
eleven  (1,011)  children  were  interviewed.  The  following  is  a  comparison  of  the  numbers 
of  children  applying  for  workpapers  in  corresponding  months  of  1914  and  1915  in  New 
York  City: 

1914 

January 982 

February 1,471 

March 1,197 

April  1-15 370 

Total 4,020  4,505  +485 

Unemployment  in  the  Children's  Families 

Of  the  1,011  children,  429  or  42.4  per  cent.,  reported  that  the  head  of  the  family, 
sometimes  father,  sometimes  mother  or  sister  or  brother,  was  unemployed  at  the  time 
of  the  investigation.  Sixty-three  and  two-tenths  per  cent,  of  the  families  had  only  one 
member  unemployed,  17.2  per  cent,  had  two  members  out  of  work,  and  19.6  per  cent, 
had  three  or  more  members  idle.  Of  these  families,  29  per  cent,  had  no  tangible  income 
at  the  time  of  the  interview. 


The  Individual  Wage  Earners 

Number  of  wage  earners  in  families  scheduled 2,167 

Number  of  unemployed  wage  earners 534 

Percentage  of  unemployed  wage  earners 24.6 

While  the  record  of  unemployment  in  the  families  is  interesting,  its  significance  in  the 
unemployment  situation  may  be  exaggerated  unless  the  individual  wage  earners  are 
taken  into  consideration  irrespective  of  the  relationship  to  the  family.  The  United  States 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  conducted  an  investigation  of  unemployment  in  New  York 
City  beginning  January  30,  1915,  and  ending  February  17,  1915,  carefully  selecting  a 
representative  number  of  families  of  various  nationalities  and  all  classes  of  workers.     The 


Increase 

1915 

in  1915 

978 

—4 

1,754 

+283 

1,304 

+107 

469 

+  99 

*A  study  of  unemployment  in  the  families  of  1,011  children  applying  for  employment  certificates  in 
New  York  City  from  January  to  April,  1915,  by  Lucille  Lowenstein  and  Louise  Cornell  of  the  New  York 
School  of  Philanthropy. 

f  The  law  of  the  State  of  New  York  requires  among  other  things  that  the  candidate  for  work  papers 
present  himself  before  the  proper  authorities  at  the  department  of  health,  accompanied  by  one  of  his  parents. 
Thus  the  conditions  for  making  an  inquiry  into  the  family  situation  were  particularly  favorable,  as  the  parents 
could  throw  added  light  upon,  and  verify  the  correctness  of,  the  children's  statements. 

101 


result  showed  that  16.2  per  cent,  of  the  wage  earners  studied  were  out  of  work.  The 
proportion  of  families  in  which  there  was  unemployment  was  21.4  per  cent.*  These 
facts  are  of  considerable  interest  in  connection  with  the  study  made  at  the  work  certi- 
ficate office,  which  showed  that  in  42.4  per  cent,  of  the  families  there  were  unemployed 
members,  and  that  24.6  per  cent,  of  the  wage  earners  were  idle.  Accepting  the  Federal 
Bureau's  report  as  a  basis  for  unemployment  figures  in  New  York  City  during  the  year 
1914-15,  is  it  not  conclusive  that  the  would-be  child  laborers  applying  for  work  certificates 
came  from  a  group  in  which  the  percentage  of  unemployment  was  abnormally  high? 

An  effort  was  made  to  learn  the  exact  occupation  at  which  each  unemployed  member 
of  the  families  last  worked  and  the  length  of  time  each  had  been  out  of  work.  The  source 
of  information  is  again  the  child  and  the  parent  accompanying' him,  and  the  information 
gathered  is  as  nearly  correct  as  material  collected  from  a  third  person,  though  that  person 
is  in  the  same  family,  can  be.  The  greatest  percentage  of  unemployed  persons  in  January 
had  been  out  of  work  from  6  to  11  months,  in  February  from  6  to  11  months,  in  March 
from  1  to  3  months,  in  April  from  3  to  6  months.  Nearly  one-half  of  the  unemployed 
wage-earners  were  workers  in  clothing  and  textile  trades,  the  period  of  most  noticeable 
idleness  occurring  at  the  end  of  January,  and  the  least  in  April.  And  as  an  interesting 
supplement  to  these  facts  it  may  be  noted  here  that  48  per  cent,  of  the  Russians,  the 
largest  foreign  group  among  the  unemployed,  were  idle.  Remembering  that  the  Russian 
predominates  in  this  industry,  and  that  January  and  February  are  normally  slack  months 
in  the  clothing  trade,  it  is  undoubtedly  conclusive  that  a  considerable  proportion  of  the 
unemployment  here  shown  is  due  to  the  seasonal  depression. 

About  40  per  cent,  of  the  group  of  wage  earners  were  American  born,  nearly  one- 
fifth  of  whom  were  out  of  work.  Of  the  foreign  born  group,  nearly  one-third  were  idle. 
This  difference  is  perhaps  explained  by  the  information  above,  which  shows  that  the 
foreign  workers  in  the  clothing  industry  were  the  heaviest  sufferers.  In  the  building 
trades  we  find  the  greatest  percentage  of  unemployment  in  the  month  of  February,  with 
a  lessening  of  the  numbers  idle  in  March  and  falling  to  the  lowest  point  in  the  first  two 
weeks  of  April.  This  is  directly  in  the  order  which  the  seasonal  character  of  the  trade 
would  lead  us  to  expect. 

Number  of  Unemployed  Workers  in  the  Families  Investigated  and  Per  Cent. 
Out  of  Work  in  Each  of  These  Industries 


Clothing  and  textiles 

Trade  and  restaurants 

Building 

Metals  and  metal  manufacturing 

Printing  and  binding 

Transportation 

Food,  tobacco  and  liquor 

Domestic  service 

Wood  working 

Public  employment 

Miscellaneous 

This  table  shows  as  concretely  as  possible  the  entire  amount  of  lack  of  work  found 
<luring  the  course  of  the  investigation,  arranged  to  present  the  proportion  falling  in  each 
industry.     It  will  be  seen  again  how  severely  the  clothing  workers  suffered. 

*  Bulletin  No.  172  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  p.  8. 

102 


Per  cent. 

Number  of 

unemployed 

workers 

among  those 

idle 

reported 

167 

31 

99 

18 

80 

15 

48 

10 

21 

4 

19 

A 

20 

4 

16 

3 

11 

2 

7 

1 

46 

6 

Of  the  534  unemployed  wage  earners,  167  were  over  45  years  of  age.  In  unskilled 
occupations,  where  endurance  is  essential,  a  worker  is  soon  aged  and  45  is  not 
an  unusual  old  age.  Probably  more  significant  is  the  fact  that  so  many  (367) 
were  below  that  age,  and  of  these,  163  were  between  the  ages  of  16  and  20.  What  we  may 
read  in  this  is  that  a  great  many  men  were  out  of  work  whose  age  would  not  be  the  reason 
for  unemployment. 

A  study  of  the  causes  of  unemployment  is  necessary  in  suggesting  the  methods  of 
adjustment  so  as  to  avoid  a  repetition  of  the  economic  situation  of  the  past  year.  The 
significance  of  the  term  "unemployed"  which  has  been  used  so  often  in  the  course  of  the 
preceding  pages,  lies  in  the  fact  of  the  inability  of  the  idle  to  obtain  work.  Neither  strikes 
nor  sickness  can  in  this  sense  be  classed  as  unemployment.  A  distinction  has  been  made 
here  between  the  terms  "personal  causes"  and  "economic  causes."  "Old  age,"  "sickness," 
"accidents,"  voluntary  and  involuntary  idleness,  such  as  leaving  to  marry  or  having  been 
discharged  for  discipline,  have  been  classed  as  "personal  causes."  It  is  interesting  that 
29 . 5  per  cent,  of  the  unemployed  confessed  these  personal  causes  rather  than  placing  all 
their  misfortune  at  the  door  of  ill  luck  or  of  hard  times,  or  of  trade  depression.  Economic 
reasons,  however,  accounted  for  the  remaining  70.5  per  cent,  of  the  group. 

The  study  showed  that  29  per  cent,  of  the  families  in  which  there  was  unemploy- 
ment had  no  income  from  wages  at  this  time  and  that  46  per  cent,  fell  below  the  modal* 
income  class,  twice  as  large  a  proportion  of  these  families  being  in  this  number  as  in  those 
*n  which  there  was  no  unemployment. 

Of  the  1,011  children  interviewed,  805  had  attended  the  public  schools,  and  of  these 
287  or  36  per  cent,  were  graduates. 

Seven  hundred  and  eight,  or  70  per  cent.,  of  the  1,011  children  were  native  born. 
That  such  a  large  proportion  of  American  born  children  are  leaving  school  at  the  ages 
of  14  and  15  will  not  surprise  us  when  we  know  that  84  per  cent,  of  the  fathers  were 
foreigners. 

Two-thirds  of  the  children  urged  the  necessity  of  their  earnings,  either  in  the  family 
support  or  for  self-support,  as  the  reason  of  their  not  continuing  at  school.  The  answers 
of  the  other  children  varied,  some  claiming  that  they  preferred  work  to  school;  that  they 
disliked  or  were  tired  of  school;  that  they  "could  not  learn";  that  they  were  "too  big 
for  their  class"  and  some  that  their  mothers  needed  the  daughters'  help  at  home. 

Less  than  one-half  of  the  1,011  children  had  any  assurances  of  immediate  work  and 
were  facing  a  problem  that  many  of  the  wage  earners  of  their  family  had  faced  unsuc- 
cessfully for  over  a  year.  By  far  the  most  popular  agent  in  securing  employment  was 
"friends  and  relatives,"  though  a  large  number  of  the  children  depended  upon  news- 
paper advertisements  and  upon  canvassing  from  store  to  store.  This  winter  of  unem- 
ployment had  seen  many  a  grown  man  seeking  in  this  way  to  find  work.  The  uncertainty 
of  this  method  is  accompanied  in  the  case  of  children  with  dangers  which  make  it  unwise 
for  young  children  to  deal  with  strangers  in  unknown  parts  of  the  city.f 

Can  we  not  infer  from  the  findings  of  this  study  that,  whereas  the  families  expecting 
the  usual  winter  unemployment  may  have  been  planning  to  take  their  children  from 
school  at  the  close  of  the  term,  those  in  which  the  loss  of  work  was  unexpected 
had  to  resort  quickly  to  means  of  support  by  trying  to  find  work  for  their 
children  in  the  middle  of  their  school  year?  A  comparison  of  the  24.6  per  cent,  unem- 
ployment found  in  this  study  with  the  16 .2  per  cent,  shown  by  the  Federal  Bureau's  report 
leads  us  undoubtedly  to  the  conclusion  that,  notwithstanding  other  factors,  financial 
hardships  in  the  families  caused  by  the  existing  crisis  were  responsible  for  turning  out  so 
early  a  great  proportion  of  these  small  adventurers  upon  the  tide  of  opportunity. 


*  The  modal  income  being  that  of  the  largest  number  of  cases  in  each  group  of  families  with  equal 
membership.  As  a  basis  for  computing  a  modal  income,  the  families  whose  heads  were  shop  owners,  peddlers, 
commission  salesmen,  or  contractors,  were  omitted,  since  it  is  obviously  impossible  to  estimate  the  income 
in  these  instances. 

t  Since  this  study  was  made,  a  Bureau  of  Attendance  of  the  Board  of  Education  has  been  established. 
It  is  the  work  of  this  bureau  automatically  to  follow  up  at  the  end  of  two  weeks  every  child  obtaining  his 
work  paper.     If  employment  has  not  been  secured  in  that  time,  he  is  returned  to  school. 

103 


Appendix  IV 

Unemployed  Working  Girls* 
Introduction 

One  of  the  important  experiments  in  dealing  with  the  unemployment  problem  during 
the  winter  of  1914-1915  was  the  establishment,  by  the  sub-committee  on  unemployment 
among  women  of  the  Mayor's  Committee  on  Unemployment  and  eo-operating  organiza- 
tions, of  seven  training  classes  for  unemployed  girls. t 

The  records  of  three  hundred  and  five  girls  have  been  obtained  for  the  purpose  of 
this  study.  This  number  is  30.7  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  girls  who  had  attended 
the  scholarship  classes  up  to  June  1st.  Each  girl  was  interviewed  and  her  record  put  down 
on  schedules  arranged  for  the  purpose.  Schedules  were  filled  out  for  151,  or  31  per  cent., 
of  the  members  of  the  class  in  office  work;  39,  or  62.9  per  cent.,  of  those  in  the  sewing 
class;  59,  or  47.2  per  cent.,  in  the  classes  for  domestic  science;  and  33,  or  10.3  per  cent., 
of  those  in  the  classes  for  trade  work.  The  small  per  cent,  of  those  in  the  trade  work 
classes  who  were  interviewed  is  due  to  the  fact  that  it  was  impossible  to  interview  the 
girls  in  the  school,  and  only  the  few  who  passed  through  the  office  of  the  central  committee 
were  seen. 

The  facts  disclosed  by  this  study  present  a  general  picture  of  a  particular  group  of 
girls  which  may  be  significant  to  those  interested  in  the  problem  of  unemployment  and  this 
method  of  dealing  with  some  of  those  affected  by  it.  Statements  of  age,  schooling,  training, 
home  conditions  and  trade  history  were  included  in  the  investigation.  The  time  and 
space  devoted  to  the  study  would  not  justify  anything  more  than  a  mere  presentation  of 
these  facts.  The  picture  shown  is  of  the  handicaps  which  have  been  met  with  by  these 
girls.  Conclusions  as  to  the  causes,  effects  and  possible  elimination  of  these  handicaps 
could  be  drawn  only  from  a  much  more  intensive  and  extensive  survey  of  the  very  large 
field  which  has  been  so  slightly  touched  by  the  present  study. 

Reasons  for  Unemployment 

In  a  study  of  the  reasons  given  for  leaving  their  positions  it  was  found  that  30  per 
cent,  of  the  girls  were  laid  off  because  of  slack  season,  14  per  cent,  had  held  temporary 
positions,  15  per  cent,  were  unemployed  because  the  firm  for  which  they  had  been  working 
had  failed,  moved,  or  gone  out  of  business,  making  59  per  cent,  in  all  who  were  unemployed 
because  of  business  conditions.!  Fifteen  per  cent,  had  left  their  positions  hoping  to  get 
better  ones,  and  the  rest  gave  a  large  number  of  different  reasons  varying  from  "sickness" 
to  "work  was  too  easy." 

Average  Age 

The  average  age  for  the  girls  attending  the  class  in  office  work  was  19.11,  and  for 
the  non-scholarship  §  class  of  office  workers  21.08,  a  considerably  greater  age  than  that 
found  in  the  sewing  class,  which  was  18.76,  the  domestic  science  classes  which  was  18.75, 
or  the  trade  workers  class,  which  was  the  youngest  of  all,  only  17.00. 

A  classified  grouping  of  ages  shows  that  37  per  cent,  of  the  girls  were  between  16 
and  18,  and  35  per  cent,  between  18  and  20.  It  is  in  the  classes  where  the  foreign  element 
predominates  that  we  find  the  youngest  girls.  In  trade  work  there  were  43  per  cent, 
between  lt>  and  18  and  30  per  cent,  less  than  16,  and  in  the  sewing  class  56  per  cent,  between 
16  and  IS.  It  is  these  girls,  who  on  account  of  their  foreign  birth ||  or  training  should 
rightfully  have  the  longest  time  to  prepare  themselves  in  our  public  schools,  that  are  first 
sent  out  into  the  industrial  world. 


Schooling  Received 

In  only  the  domestic  science  and  non-scholarship  office  work  classes  was  there  a 
considerable  proportion  of  girls  who  received  their  schooling  outside  of  New  York  City. 
As  the  standards  in  terms  of  grades  vary  among  schools  in  this  country  outside  of  New 


*A  study  of  three  hundred  girls  who  attended  the  scholarship  classes  conduoted  by  the  Central  Com- 
mittee on  8i  ir's)  Bub-Committee  on  (Jnemploymenl  Among  Women  and  Co-operating 
Organisations  during  the  winter  of  L915.      By  Mary  X.  Winslow  of  the  New  York  School  of  Philanthropy. 

tSeo  i 

•  ould  probably  be  i  rue  of  a  similar  number  of  girls  unemployed  in  lows  critical  times. 

5i;irl,  who  did  no1  receive  "scholarships"  (financial  assistance). 
22  i  i    were  foreign  born,  57  per  cent.  Dative  bom  of  foreign  parentage. 

104 


York  City,  foreign  schools  and  the  city  schools,  and  as  74  per  cent,  of  all  the  girls  are 
products  of  the  city  public  schools,  the  statistics  as  to  the  grade  reached  are  only  for  those 
whose  last  school  was  a  New  York  public  school. 

The  average  age  at  leaving  school  for  all  of  the  girls  in  the  different  classes  was:  16 .38 
for  the  non- scholarship  office  work  class,  15 .89  for  the  office  work  class,  15 .79  for  the  domes- 
tic science  classes,  15.39  for  the  sewing  class,  and  15.35  for  the  trade  work  class. 

Table  1  gives  the  grade  at  leaving  school  for  the  girls  who  last  attended  day  school 
in  New  York  City. 

Table  1. — Grade  at  Leaving  School  for  Girls  Attending  Scholarship  Classes  Who 
Last  Attended  Day  School  in  a  New  York  City  Public  School 


Grade  Left  School 


Below  4th  grade .... 

4th  grade 

5th  grade 

6th  grade 

7th  grade 

8th  grade 

Elementary       school 

graduate 

High  school  non-grad 

uate 

High  school  graduate 

Total 


Class  Attended 


Domestic 
Science 


Trade 
Work 


No. 

1 
6 
7 
6 
9 


34 


% 

3 

18 
20 
18 
26 


No. 

10 
8 
3 


100 


30 


% 

33 
27 
10 

27 

3 


100 


Sewing 


No. 
1 
2 

10 
8 
5 
1 


28 


% 

4 

7 

36 

28 

17 

4 


100 


Office 

Work 


Non-Schol. 
Office  Work 


No. 
1 


4 
10 

63 

24 

19 


121 


% 
1* 


52 

20 
16 


No. 


100        12 


% 

8 

8 

25 

25 

33 


100 


Total 


No. 
1 
4 
16 
26 
24 
26 

77 

30 
21 


225 


% 

V 

2 

7 
12 
11 
12 

34 

13 

9 


100 


*  Less  than  one  per  cent. 

33  per  cent,  of  the  girls  in  the  trade  work  class  left  school  while  in  the  6th  grade  (as 
soon  as  they  legally  could)  and  36  per  cent,  of  the  sewing  class  left  while  in  the  5th  grade,  f 
Many  of  the  girls  in  the  sewing  class  were  backward  and  reached  the  age  of  16  before  they 
had  passed  beyond  the  5th  grade.  Several  said  they  left  school  because  they  were  ashamed 
to  go  on  account  of  their  age  and  low  grade,  but  the  large  majority  left  "to  go  to  work." 
When  we  remember  that  in  this  class  18  per  cent,  of  the  girls  were  of  families  with  six 
or  more  dependents,  it  does  not  seem  extraordinary  that  the  advantages  of  a  weekly  wage 
should  have  assumed  more  importance  to  them  than  those  of  a  more  complete  education. 

In  addition  to  the  training  received  in  the  public  schools,  opportunity  is  offered  the 
girls  of  New  York  to  continue  or  supplement  their  training  in  evening  schools.  It  is 
interesting  to  see  that  while  84  per  cent,  of  the  girls  who  attended  the  scholarship  classes 
had  received  supplementary  training  of  some  sort,  only  38  per  cent,  had  received  such 
training  in  the  New  York  public  evening  schools  and  46  per  cent,  had  received  training 
in  private  commercial  schools. 

Table  2  gives  the  distribution  of  the  classes  among  the  evening,  commercial,  and 
other  schools.  Several  of  the  girls  in  the  office  work  class  were  counted  twice,  as  they 
attended  both  evening  and  commercial  schools.  Of  course  the  value  of  the  training  in 
the  evening  school  classes  is  largely  dependent  upon  the  length  of  time  given  to  it.  We 
find  that  of  the  girls  who  went  to  evening  school,  only  15  per  cent,  continued  for  three 
terms  or  more. 

At  the  commercial  schools,  however,  the  term  was  seldom  uncompleted.  To  finish 
the  course  at  the  commercial  school  meant  a  definite  financial  asset,  the  value  of  which 
was  thoroughly  understood  and  appreciated  by  those  taking  it.  Of  the  139  girls  who 
went  to  commercial,  school,  55  per  cent,  went  from  six  to  ten  months,  15  per  cent,  less 
than  6  months,  and  30  per  cent,  more  than  ten  months.  The  almost  invariable  answer 
of  a  girl  when  questioned  as  to  the  reason  why  she  did  not  get  her  commercial  training 
in  the  public  high  school,  where  the  training  was  better  and  would  have  cost  her  nothing, 
was  that  the  high  school  training  took  too  long,  and  that  she  had  thought  she  would  get 
more  practical  training  in  a  commercial  school. 


t  Before  1914,  it  was  necessary  only  to  reach  the  fifth  grade  to  qualify  for  a  certificate, 
the  law  has  required  completion  of  the  sixth  grade. 


Since  thfn 


105 


Table  2. — Number  of  Girls  Attending  Scholarship  Classes  Who  Had  Received 

Special  Training 


Class  Attended 

Kind  of  School 

Domestic 
Science 

Trade 

Work 

Sewing 

Office 

Work 

Non-Schol. 
Office  Work- 

Total 

Public  evening  school 
Commercial  school .  . 
Other  school 

No. 

25 
1 
2 

% 
23 
1* 
50 

No. 
4 
3 

% 
4 
2 

No. 
11 

1 

% 
10 

25 

No. 

62 

112 

% 
56 

81 

No. 

8 
23 

1 

% 

7 

17 

25 

No. 

110 

139 

4 

% 
44 
55 
1 

Total 

28 

11 

7 

2 

12 

5 

174 

68 

32 

13 

253 

100 

*  Less  than  one  per  cent. 


Occupations  of  the  Girls 

The  occupations  of  the  girls  in  these  classes  fell  mainly  under  three  of  the  chief  groups 
of  occupational  pursuits.  Under  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits  23  per  cent, 
were  classed,  15  per  cent,  were  engaged  in  domestic  and  personal  service  and  56  per  cent, 
in  clerical  work.  Each  of  the  two  latter  divisions  included  a  fairly  homogeneous  group. 
The  workers  in  domestic  and  personal  service  were  domestic  servants  and  waitresses  in 
restaurants.  The  clerical  group  consisted  of  stenographers,  typewriters,  bookkeepers 
and  office  assistants.  The  activities  represented  by  the  manufacturing  and  mechanical 
pursuits  were,  however,  very  diverse.  This  group  has  accordingly  been  classified  as  to 
kind  of  work  done  in  the  following  table: 


Table  3. 


-Kind  of  Work  Done  By  Girls  in  Manufacturing  and  Mechanical 
Pursuits 


Work  Done 


Hand  sewing 

Machine  sewing 

Miscellaneous    machine 

operating 

Preparing  or  examining . 

Millinery 

Apprentice    to    milliners 

or  dressmakers 

Other  occupations 

Total 


Domestic 
Science 


No. 

2 


10 
2 


19 


% 
11 


52 
11 


26 


Class  Attended 


100 


Trade 
Work 


No, 
1 
2 

13 

21 
3 

1 
2 


43 


v; 

2 


30 
49 

7 

2 
5 


100 


Sewing 


No. 
7 
4 

14 
26 


52 


i 
i:; 


27 
50 


100 


Office 
Work 


No. 
2 
1 

2 
2 


% 
25 
12 

25 
25 


12 


100 


Non-Schol . 
Office  Work 


No. 
2 


/o 
100 


100 


Total 


No. 
14 

7 

39 

51 

3 

7 
3 


124 


% 
11 
6 

32 

41 

2 

6 

2 


100 


On  examining  Table  3  it  is  found  that  31  per  cent,  of  the  positions  were  for  machine 
operating  of  various  kinds,  and  41  per  cent,  involved  examining  or  preparing  activities, 
which  include  such  occupations  as  examining,  stamping,  folding,  packing,  and  labeling; 
while  only  6  per  cent,  of  the  positions  were  for  machine  sewing,  including  the  making  of 
embroidery.  Only  13  per  cent,  of  the  positions  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  pursuits 
held  by  the  members  of  the  sewing  class  were  for  hand  sewing,  while  77  per  cent,  were 
for  machine  operating  or  the  examining  or  preparing  activities.     The  trade  workers,  of 

e,  were  even  more  highly  represented  in  these  last  two  groups. 


106 


Methods  of  Securing  Employment 

The  very  casual  methods  of  securing  employment  by  the  girls  is  illustrated  in  Table  4. 

Table  4. — Methods  of  Securing  Positions  Used  By  Girls  Attending  Scholarship 

Classes* 


Class  Attended 

Positions  Secured 

Through 

Domestic 

Trade 

Office 

Non-Schol. 

Science 

Work 

Sewing 

Work 

Office  Work 

Total 

No. 

% 

No. 

% 

No. 

% 

No. 

% 

No. 

% 

No. 

% 

Friend 

69 

71 

21 

39 

30 

50 

105 

42 

11 

20 

236 

46 

Employment  agency  .  .  . 

15 

16 

1 

2 

3 

5 

60 

24 

27 

50 

106 

21 

Advertisement  in  news- 

paper   

8 

8 

12 

22 

8 

13 

52     21  . 

3 

6 

83 

16 

Personal  application .... 

4 

4 

20 

37 

19 

32 

13        5 

6 

11 

62 

12 

School     previously     at- 

tended  

16 

6 

7 

13 

23 

4 

Other  means 

1 

1 

2 

1 

3 

1 

Total 

97 

100 

54 

100 

60 

100 

248 

100 

54 

100 

513f 

100 

*  These  methods  of  securing  employment  do  not  differ  materially  from  those  used  by  girls  who  retained 
their  employment.  In  fact  the  findings  of  this  study  are,  as  a  whole,  illustrative  of  the  experience  of  em- 
ployed as  well  as  unemployed  girls. 

t  In  15  of  the  528  positions  about  which  information  was  gathered,  the  method  of  securing  the  position 
was  not  discovered. 

The  haphazard  way  in  which  jobs  were  found  and  given  up  was  striking.  Forty-six 
per  cent,  of  the  girls  found  work  through  the  recommendation  of  a  friend.  Employment 
agencies  had  been  patronized  to  any  extent  only  by  the  girls  in  the  domestic  science  and 
office  work  classes.  The  agencies  used  by  the  girls  in  the  latter  classes  were  the  typewriting 
companies,  many  of  which  have  agencies  but  charge  no  fee.  In  the  trade  work  and  sewing 
classes  another  large  number  of  girls  secured  their  positions  by  personal  application.  In 
the  two  latter  classes  particularly,  a  very  small  degree  of  foresight  or  interest  in  their  work 
was  shown  by  the  girls.  Often  a  girl  would  not  know  the  name  or  address  of  the  firm 
she  had  last  worked  for. 

Average  Length  of  Time  Employed  in  Position  Longest  Held 

Table  5  gives  the  average  length  of  time  spent  in  the  position  held  for  the  longest 
time,  and  shows  what  little  opportunity  for  training  in  any  one  position  had  been  afforded 
the  girls  who  needed  it  most. 

Table  5. — Average  Length  of  Time  Spent  in  Position  Held  for  the  Longest  Time 


Class  Attended 

Domestic 
Science 

Trade 
Work 

Sewing 

Office 
Work 

Non-schol. 
Office  Work 

Average  number  of  months .... 

11.29 

6.63 

15.37 

14.11 

28.44 

We  find  that  the  non-scholarship  office  workers  held  their  longest  positions  for  over 
two  years,  and  the  scholarship  office  workers  for  more  than  one  year.  The  members  of 
the  sewing  class  seem  to  have  held  their  positions  for  a  long  time  also,  but  this  is  explained 
by  the  fact  that  many  of  the  girls  worked  with  one  firm  for  from  two  to  five  years,  in  the 
busy  season  only,  being  laid  off  when  times  were  slack.  The  period  of  time  for  which 
they  worked  has  been  counted  as  continuous,  as  the  purpose  of  the  table  was  to  show 
what  opportunities  the  girls  had  had  to  familiarize  themselves  with  any  one  occupation. 
It  is  plain  that  the  trade  workers,  with  an  average  duration  of  little  more  than  six  months, 
had  little  chance  to  perfect  themselves  in  any  one  employment. 


107 


Home  Handicaps 

The  final  handicap  under  which  these  girls  were  suffering  was  poverty  at  home.     Only 

r  cent,  of  the  girls  boarded.  Of  those  who  lived  at  home,  67  per  cent,  con- 
tributed all  of  their  earnings  to  their  households,  getting  back  for  personal  expense 
what  could  be  spared.  The  system  employed  by  15  per  cent,  of  the  girls  was  to  give 
otic-half  or  more  of  their  earnings  to  their  families  and  retain  the  rest  for  their  own  expenses. 
In  only  13,  or  5  per  cent.,  of  the  families  of  the  girls  living  at  home  was  the  girl  the  only 
wage  earner.  Thirty-two  per  cent,  of  the  families  had  one  other  wage  earner,  37  per  cent, 
two  others,  and  25  per  cent,  three  or  more  others.  In  25  per  cent.,  however,  of  the  families 
with  one  other  wage  earner,  that  one  was  unemployed;  in  35  per  cent,  of  the  families 
with  two  other  wage  earners  one  of  these  two  was  unemployed,  and  in  7  per  cent,  both 
were  unemployed;  of  the  families  with  three  or  more  wage  earners  37  per  cent,  had  one 
unemployed,  18  per  cent.  twro  unemployed,  12  per  cent,  three  unemployed,  and  3  per  cent, 
four  unemployed.  Of  all  the  families  for  whom  information  was  obtained,  16  per  cent, 
had  no  wage  earner  employed,  and  30  per  cent,  had  one  or  more  wage  earners  out  of  employ- 
ment. The  importance  of  the  contribution  of  the  girl  to  the  support  of  her  family  is 
evidenced  by  these  figures.    . 

That  a  system  of  training  classes  for  unemployed  girls  can  help  to  remove  some  of 
these  handicaps  seems  a  self-evident  fact.  Insufficient  general  education  can  be  supple- 
mented. Lack  of  technical  education  can  be  supplied.  Information  can  be  given  as  to 
industrial  conditions  and  opportunities,  and  proper  facilities  for  securing  employment 
can  be  provided  in  connection  with  the  classes. 

The  successful  placement  by  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  of  76  per 
cent,  of  the  girls  who  went  through  their  scholarship  classes  last  winter,  with  one-third 
of  that  number  placed  at  a  higher  wage  than  they  had  formerly  earned,  is  an  indication 
of  the  real  value  of  this  form  of  continuation  class,  and  a  proof  that  they  fulfil  a  need  for 
supplementary  training  which  is  disclosed  upon  examination  of  the  records  of  a  majority 
of  the  girls  studied.* 


*  The  report  of  the  Committee  for  Vocational  Scholarships  of  the  Henry  Street  Settlement  for  1915. 
shows  that  "the  amount  of  wages  earned  by  scholarship  children  averages  twice  that  earned  by  an  equal 
number  of  children  of  the  same  age  who  have  received  no  special  training." — Editor. 


108 


RE-ORGANIZED 

MAYOR'S   COMMITTEE   ON   UNEMPLOYMENT* 

Officers  and  Executive  Committee 

Wm.  D.  Baldwin,  Chairman 

Hugh  Frayne,  First  Vice-Chairman 

Mrs.  Alexander  Kohut,  Second  Vice-Chairman 

Walter  B.  Holt,  Third  Vice-Chairman 

Miss  Anne  Morgan,  Fourth  Vice-Chairman 

Henry  Bruere,  Fifth  Vice-Chairman 

Newcomb  Carlton,  Treasurer 

John  R.  Shillady,  Secretary 


George  W.  Alger 
Charles  L.  Bernheimer 
Wm.  C.  Breed 
John  P.  Coughlan 
Herbert  Croly 
Edward  T.  Devine 
Alvin  E.  Dodd 


A.  L.  Doremus 
James  P.  Holland 
Frederic  C.  Howe 
Miss  Mary  Van  Kleeck 
James  H.  Post 
Mortimer  L.  Schiff 
Miss  Lillian  D.  Wald 


♦Appointed  at  the  suggestion  of  Elbert  H.  Gary,  chairman  of  the  original  Mayor's  Committee  on 
Unemployment,  by  Hon.  John  Purroy  Mitchel,  Mayor,  January  25,  1916,  to  deal  constructively  with 
the  problem  of  unemployment  and  prepare  against  a  recurrence  of  unemployment  crises. 


109 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY 


D     000  428  058     2 


LIBRARY 
PUBLIC  AFFAIRS  SERVICE 

JUN  2  5  1982 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


